Piece of the Puzzle
by rory21
Summary: March 2019. Nikki Bella is back in WWE and she has her eyes set on the Women's title. Yet she will soon find out her comeback is not all fun and roses. As she finds herself on her own, will a certain Architect help her finding that missing piece? And will she be the one to complete his life as well? Nikki Bella/Seth Rollins
1. Prologue

**Another Piece of The Puzzle**  
_A Nikki Bella/Seth Rollins fanfic_

**_Prologue._**

If there was something Nikki Bella had learnt during the past 10 months, it was how to be perfectly content with her own life under any circumstance.

It hadn't been an easy journey, that was for sure, but after breaking up with John she had slowly, day by day, started to build herself up again – and solo this time.

It had come almost as a shock to her, the sudden realisation that in the end, after so much time and so many struggles and indecisions, what she had longed for was finally hers to have, only it wasn't what she wanted anymore. Not per se, cause she still strongly desired the whole package -commitment, marriage, children, happily ever after- but not with the one she had fully believed was the man of her life.

So she had moved on, not romantically for she was still single after the breakup, but with her own life.

_Birdiebee, Dancing With The Stars, Belle Radici, Total Bellas_... she had kept herself busy and launched herself in every opportunity that arose, finding again that spark of passion inside her and re-building, slowly but surely, the confidence she had suddenly felt she had lost.

Yes, it was safe to state that Nikki had a full life she was satisfied with.

"Good job, Birdie!" Nicole praised her niece when she successfully threw the rubber toy in the shape of a circle onto the wooden spike, "You're such a good girl!" The former diva cooed as she picked Birdie up from the fluffy carpet and effortlessly held her against her hip. "Now we'd better get ready for bed though, before mommy and daddy come home and scold us."

Date night had been one of the new routines in Daniel and Brie's life now that he was back on the road for the majority of the week, and Nicole had been only happy to transform it in her and Birdie's night as well, especially since her sister's family had moved back to Phoenix while she had remained based -at least for the moment- in San Diego. Nicole had tried to arrange her schedule in order to be able to fly up weekly to be with them and especially with Birdie.

She loved kids, loved all her nieces and loved being the cool aunt that got to spoil them at every chance she got.

Her life had been frantic as of lately, especially since Brie needed more time to stay at home now that Brian was away, and as a consequence Nikki had found herself to be the one dealing with more responsibilities -and a fuller agenda- for their brands.

It was definitely tiresome to fly from place to place, yet satisfying at the same time. Only in such moments like this, when she found herself strangely still, she sometimes started to feel a particular longing in her heart.

After John there hadn't been anyone in her life; a couple of dates had taken place, but nothing had come out of them. She had told everyone who asked her that it was fine this way, she was sure that the right man would show up at the right time and she wasn't in any way bothered by the lack of love interests in her life.

Yet, as she now put Birdie down in her baby bed and watched over that angelic face drifting off to sleep, she wondered if there was still a spot for something so amazing to happen in her own life.

Yes, she felt fine, she loved her life and enjoyed it thoroughly, but she couldn't help but feel like one piece of the puzzle was still missing, after all.

* * *

Monday Night Raw had just ended and the usual buzz and excitement was calming down in the backstage, with everything coming back to its normal pace.

The men's locker room was already half empty by the time the superstars that had competed in the main event came out of the showers.

"I'm not usually the one to brag," began Dean Ambrose as soon as his former teammate, still dripping water from his wet hair, joined him near the lockers, "but did you see how I locked Baron Corbin's arm in that hold?"

Seth Rollins didn't bother to hide the amusement on his face at such statement. "Of course you're not the bragging type. You're just an arrogant, egocentric son of a bitch."

Dean seemed to consider the description just offered for a moment before acknowledging it with a nod. "That too," he conceded, unbothered, "Yet did you see that move? Pretty impressive, huh?"

"Yeah, it was good." Seth eventually agreed while throwing on a black t-shirt, he knew this was the only way to deal with his off-screen's best friend, after all. Dean might seem and sound full of himself -which partly he was- but he was just like an overzealous giant puppy, good-naturedly looking for attention.

"You mean g_reat_, not just good."

"Huh-uh."

"So, you coming to grab a bite with Renée and me?"

Seth considered the offer for a bit before replying. "I don't think so, but thanks man." The Architect refused, "I'm pretty much done for the night. I think I'll go straight to the hotel."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Alright bro, see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, tomorrow." Seth echoed as his fist bumped into Dean's in their usually form of salute, dismissing him.

Then a sigh escaped his lips. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company of Dean and Renée, or that he wasn't enthralled by the way things were working out for himself wrestling-wise: he had just won the men's battle royal at the Royal Rumble, meaning he was going for the title at Wrestlemania, after all.

Yet, was it normal to sometimes feel a peculiar longing inside of him when he was to play the third-wheel part?

Was wrestling all he truly got?

And would it be ungrateful for him to sometimes feel like, if this was the case, it wasn't really enough?

Yeah, it felt enthralling, energizing, amazing... yet something told him that a piece of the puzzle was still missing in his life.


	2. What a mess, Nikki Bella!

**Piece Of The Puzzle  
**_A Nikki Bella/Seth Rollins fic_

THANK YOU for the reviews and for having followed/added the story to your faves! Hope you guys like this new chapter - this was a necessary step to move on with the plot, so excuse the lack of Seth. (Forgive me for any typos/mistakes, 10 years might have passed, but English still isn't my first language lol).

* * *

**Chapter 1**  
**"What a mess, Nikki Bella!"**

"Alright, where the bloody hell have you ended up to?" Nikki demanded quite annoyed -yet still helplessly- looking at her walk-in closet. Or, to be more exact, looking at the mess that currently occupied the room that she had shifted to closet in her beach house.

"_Nowhere. I'm still here."_ Brie's perplexed voice responded from the iPhone in Nicole's hand.

"What? Oh, shoot." Nikki put the phone back to her ear, "Sorry Brie, I didn't mean _you_."

"_Who else, then?"_

"What else, actually." Nikki corrected her sister with a frustrated groan, "I can't find my belt, the Gucci one in pink suede with the double G's on the front."

"_Where did you put it last time?"_

"Well Brie, if I remembered I wouldn't be looking for it right now." The number two Bella retorted matter-of-factly.

"_Obviously. I meant when did you last wore it?"_

"Gee Brie, learn your basic grammar then."

"_Ha ha, don't be a sassy bitch, Nicole."_

"Sorry," Nikki made amends "I can't remember. I think when I was in Tampa two days ago... but I think I have unpacked that suitcase already... or perhaps it was last weekend in Napa..."

"_Nicole, what do you mean you think you've unpacked? Is everything under control there?"_

"What? Yeah, of course! I just need to– oh, someone's at the door, gotta go!"

"_Nicole...!"_

But with that the sisterly conversation came ungracefully to a halt.

Nikki put the phone in the back pocket of her jeans overall and focused on the pile of bags, accessories and clothes once again.

Three suitcases laid open and still not completely emptied in front of her and the former diva started to randomly move various items of clothing from one to the other.

Okay, maybe Brie had a point and things weren't exactly under control over there. But what could she do? Her schedule was looking nearly more hectic now than when she was with the WWE.

In the last 10 days she had to oversee the finishing touches of the upcoming Birdiebee fashion show, record the solo commentaries for the newest season of Total Bellas and then fly last minute to Napa for an issue regarding a specific kind of grapes. To top that off, she had received a call from the production of "Dancing with the Stars" for some sort of special episode with a cast reunion. A call she still had to get back to, actually.

Basically, she had spent more or less 48 hours at her place – considering she had also found the time to go over to Brie and Daniel's and spend quality time with her family. No surprise she now needed a cleaning lady -make that a whole squad even-, a personal assistant to keep track of her entire schedule and 12 hours of undisturbed sleep. And not necessarily in that order.

She wasn't one to raise white flag, but even she had to admit she couldn't possibly stay on the top of everything by herself now that Brie was for the majority of the time stuck at home.

Or perhaps she could, but she'd have to squeeze in a nervous breakdown into her schedule, too.

Right on cue, her phone started ringing once again. Pretty sure it was Brie calling after the abrupt ending of the previous conversation, Nicole didn't bother to check the caller ID as she slid right and put the phone up to her ear.

"What now, bitch?"

"_...Hello? Nicole?"_

It took a moment to Nikki to register that nope, it actually wasn't Brie again. She didn't even need to check whether it was a registered number, cause the female voice on the other line anticipated her.

"_Nicole?" It's Steph. Stephanie McMahon."_

Oh good Lord.

"Steph?! Steph! What a pleasure!" Nicole put on her best innocent-meets-cheerful tone. "I couldn't hear a thing, I guess there was some interference at first."

"_Yes, it happens sometimes. How are you doing? Have I caught you at a bad time?"_

"What? No, not at all! I'm doing fine, thank you. What about you? All overworked before 'Mania, I suppose?"

"_Definitely, you know how it is."_ Stephanie laughed. _"That's actually the reason why I was calling you."_

"Really? What's happening?"

"_Well, forgive me if I cut straight to the point instead of asking you to fly to Stamford first, but as you just said we're in the middle of planning the built up to Wrestlemania. So, is there any chance you'd be interested in a comeback?"_

Nicole's eyes went wide, now that was something she wasn't expecting for sure.

"You mean you want Brie and me to make a cameo? Induct someone in the Hall of Fame ceremony?"

"_No, I actually mean a solo comeback. Again, forgive me if I go straight in – we want you in the title match at Wrestlemania, what do you say?"_

* * *

"And basically, that's all."

Standing in the middle of Brie and Daniel's living room, Nikki finished off her detailed account of the phone call with Stephanie McMahon by spreading her arms – a crossover between a drama actress on the stage at the end of a scene and a lawyer resting her case before the jury.

The news was so big and important that it couldn't be talked over on the phone, that's why the following morning Nikki had taken the first flight to Phoenix. It was definitely something to be discussed in person.

"Wow, that's big news." Brie commented in genuine surprise.

"A great news," Brian echoed "I mean we're talking Wrestlemania here. That's a huge honour."

"Exactly." Nikki agreed, finally sitting down on the couch opposite the Danielsons. "Besides, have you seen the women's roster? They could have picked almost anyone to put on a great title match, they don't need to come to me for that as a necessity."

"Indeed," Brie promptly agreed "that's a quite pondered choice, not a call out of desperation. And that's really flattering Nicole, cause you deserve it."

"Did she say exactly what are their plans?"

"Yeah, it would be me versus Ronda building up 'till Mania and then of course we'll see from there. They have already a 2 years contract ready for me, but Steph said I can consider it with no rush and wait after April to sign it, in case I need more time."

"Wow, 2 more years. You could walk out of the match as new champion, then. And you could break more records, make even more history in 2 years." Brie's eyes were alive with excitement. Nicole met her sister's gaze, sharing exactly the same feelings, the same thoughts.

"I know."

"And you'd be done at 37." Brie pressed on, "Which means you will have the time for kids and all. Nowadays that's not old at all for having babies."

A smile briefly appeared on Nikki's face at her sister's reassurances. Besides, it wasn't like she already had impending maternity projects... she didn't even have a man to begin with!

"That's right, but what about the rest? How can we deal with all the other stuff if I take a step back? How can we manage?"

"Nicole, is that what this is all about?" Brie read the distress on her sister's face, in her voice. "That's why you came all the way here?"

"I can't help but feel like I'd be walking out on you or something."

"But that won't be true." Brie retorted. "Yeah, I can't fly out all the time, but it shouldn't be all on your shoulders either."

"You will figure something out." Brian added. "There's Skype for meetings, you could hire some sort of assistant... perhaps someone you already know you can trust."

"Yeah, JJ was saying it just the other day, that he wanted to help us out with the wine industry."

"And with him and Laura living down the road, if anything came up, it wouldn't be a problem to leave Birdie with them for half a day..."

Nikki stood up again and started pacing the room again, a thousand thoughts running through her head.

"Nicole," it was Brian the one to speak up next, you need to listen to what you want to do deep down inside your heart. You're not talking to someone who can't understand – the love for that ring, we all have it in our veins, you recognize it when it calls to you."

"Yeah, I agree with Sweetface." Brie pressed on. Nicole, what would you do if you weren't under any other obligations?"

"I'd say yes," Nicole's eyes lit up at the mere idea. "I love everything we do but that – that's special and I've been missing it like crazy. I feel like this is what I wanted all these past years – make history, defying even more odds... I really want to be that woman who conquered it all before hanging her boots up for good."

"Then off you go and make us proud." Brie smiled. "There's two of us, Nicole. It hasn't been fair on you lately, you doing all the work. We'll figure it out, both of us, the Bella Twins. My dream isn't more important than yours. I'm living mine, so now you go and live yours."

"Alright then," Nicole's smile finally remained in place this time and reached her eyes. "I guess Fearless Nikki is back in town."

"Oh, yes." Brie grinned. "What do you think, Birdie? Can you say 'Coco is the next champ'?"

Birdie turned from where she was playing on the carpet. "Coco champ." She partially, yet dutifully repeated.

"Aw, come here." Nikki laughed and scooped her niece up into her arms.

"Yes!" Echoed Brian with his trademark pose, soon mirrored by his wife.

* * *

NEXT CHAPTER: Nikki is back on Raw and we see Seth again since the prologue...


	3. 3, 2, 1, back I come!

**Piece of the Puzzle**

_A Nikki Bella/Seth Rollins fanfic_

Thank you for the reviews! If you guys wanna check them out, I've made a couple of Nikki/Seth vids, the link to my youtube channel is in my profile. Hope you enjoy this new chapter, let me know if you do =)

* * *

**Chapter 2**  
**"3, 2, 1, back I come!"**

Five days later Nicole was entering the designated arena for the episode of Raw of that night in San Antonio, Texas.

The former Divas champion was rocking one of her best trademark looks with a black, deep V-neck dress that at the same time showed her cleavage while hugging her figure and a pair of red heels. It wasn't a subtle look, that was for sure, yet she had felt the occasion called for an appropriate stage entering, metaphorically (and not) speaking.

Carrying her Louis Vuitton trolley with one hand, Nicole paused to grab her iPhone with the other hand and selected the video call option.

"Look where I am!" She exclaimed in excitement once Brie's face appeared on the screen.

"...in a quite deserted parking lot?" Came Brie's confused guess.

"What? Of course not. Look better." Nicole didn't hide an eye roll as she half turned and adjusted the angle of the phone so it could actually include in the background the production bus decorated with the images of the Raw superstars.

"Oh my Gosh, you're at the arena!" Brie squealed, finally providing the expected reaction. "I can spot Roman and Natty and... your boobs, actually." Brie's excitement abruptly decreased when the shot changed.

"Oops, sorry, got a cramp in my arm." Nicole apologised with an unrepentant grin, this time placing the camera lens right in front of her face. "But yes, I'm here! Gosh Brie, I'm so thrilled!"

"I bet you are, I am too!" Brie echoed, "Do you already know what you're doing tonight?"

"Not yet, I guess I'm gonna find out in a bit. I just wanted to call you before, make sure you'll be watching."

"Are you kidding me? Of course we will! Birdie's taking her nap now so she can cheer for auntie Coco later on."

"Aw, bless."

"Nicole?"

"Yes?"

"You'll be fine." Brie smiled, somehow guessing her twin's nerves.

"I know." Nicole returned the smile, this time infused with a touch of gratitude in her tone.

"Just one thing, please."

"What?"

"Go put on a bra."

"Oh, shut up." And with another eye-roll Nicole disconnected the Facetime call and proceeded with entering the building heading for the backstage area, now with definitely more confidence than 5 minutes earlier.

* * *

"Nikki?"

"Oh my God, that's Nicole!"

"Nicole!"

The excitement in the women's locker room was palpable when Nicole made her unexpected entrance.

Hugging Natalya, the number 2 Bella couldn't help but smile and feel relief at such warm reaction and welcome.

"What are you doing here?"

"Are you here for a segment?"

"Kinda." Nicole grinned, "Actually, girls, it looks like we're colleagues once more – I'm back on Raw for good."

"...No way!"

"But that's awesome!"

"So cool!" Mickie James topped the general cheerful reaction with a high five while a quite beaming Nicole proceeded to share hugs with the female superstars she already knew and shake hands and make introductions with the ones she hadn't met yet.

"I love your character." The former Divas champion genuinely said to Ember Moon who, in return, happily greeted her; a moment later she was already chatting and exchanging compliments with Liv Morgan, despite her heel in-ring persona.

"So, where's Ronda?" Nicole asked once she had completed the greeting tour.

"Ronda?"

"Oh, you won't find her in here." Bayley scoffed.

"Yeah, she doesn't mix with us common wrestlers." Alexa Bliss echoed with a eye-roll.

"Thank God Nikki's one of us, guys." Natalya grinned, linking arms with he long time friend. "We'll go celebrating your comeback after the show, you'll see, it's gonna be just like old times."

Nicole grinned back, definitely glad for the welcome yet hiding a sudden nervousness behind her heartfelt thank you's. Would they still think the same of her return once they knew she was back to actually go after the title straight away?

* * *

It was the Monday Night Raw after the Royal Rumble, meaning this was the night when a whole series of new scenarios were about to be opened, officially opening up the road leading to Wrestlemania.

The 3rd commercial break of the night had just ended, carrying with it another series of images from the night before.

Becky Lynch winning the women's battle royal.

Ronda Rousey defeating Sasha Banks and thus retaining the Raw Women's Championship.

The new segment indeed opened with Sasha Banks in the middle of the ring, microphone in hand, demanding to have her re-match right here, right now. Stephanie McMahon herself appeared on the huge TitanTron on top of the entrance ramp, according such request to the "Boss" superstar.

One moment later and the Women's champion made her entrance accompanied by the cheers of the arena. The two women were standing face to face in the ring, ready to start their title match, when another music theme hit.

It was Becky Lynch's turn to walk out, greeted by a huge pop. The redhead marched with confidence around the ring, her head high as she she exchanged glares with both competitors standing inside and then finally took a seat at the commentators' table.

It was more than clear that the former champion of the blue roster was here to make her decision after winning the Rumble, keeping the spectators on their toes.

Eventually, the match ended with Ronda pinning Sasha and detaining once again the title and her undefeated record. After celebrating the victory, the former mixed martial arts athlete stopped against the ropes, lifting the belt in Becky's direction.

The stare down was gladly accepted by the redhead who slowly stood up, microphone in hand, marching towards the ring.

However, right when she was outside the ring, Becky took the mic to her mouth.

"Guess congratulations are in order two nights in a row, Ronda... don't you worry though, I'm sure our paths are destined to cross, yet not this time." As Ronda looked at the Smackdown superstar with a puzzled look, Becky faced the crowd with a smirk on her face. "I'm choosing to get my own Smackdown Women's Championship back at Wrestlemania!" And with that she dropped the mic on the floor, exiting the stage as the crowd cheered for both women.

"So that's settled for Smackdown, but what about Raw? Who's gonna challenge Ronda next?"

"I guess we'll just have to wait–" but Renee Young was abruptly cut off by another entrance music.

_You can look but you can't touch..._

"–or maybe not! It's Nikki Bella! Nikki Bella indeed!"

"The former Divas champion! What is she doing here?!" Michael Cole exclaimed in surprise.

And there she was indeed, dressed in her trademark red in-ring attire with a matching "Fearless" baseball cap on backwards. Nicole did her usual dancing movement with her hips upon entering, welcomed by the loud, positive reaction of the fans. Then she proceeded down in the ring's direction.

Ronda turned towards the unexpected new arrival,a guarded look on her face and the belt secured on her shoulder.

"Perhaps she's here to congratulate Ronda Rousey." Michael guessed as Nikki entered the ring, coming face to face with the Women's champion, a smile on her face. Then, just as the stare down had begun, Nikki quickly hit Ronda with an unexpected high knee in the stomach, soon followed by a facebuster.

The crowd went dead silent for the split of a second, tacking in what had just happened, before exploding in cheers even louder than before for the Bella number 2.

"I don't think there's any more doubt on Nikki Bella's intentions, Michael, she's here for the title!"

And indeed Nikki pointed at the Wrestlemania sign dominating the arena before exiting the ring and proceeding to walk backwards across the ramp, unequivocally gesturing around her waist for the belt.

"What a statement made by Nikki Bella!"

Oh yes, you could definitely say that.

* * *

The rush of adrenaline hit Nicole hard as she got back through the curtain separating the backstage from the main one.

She was barely aware of a smiling Finn Balor passing her by on his way to the ring; the Bella twin removed her cap and fanned herself with it, walking in some sort of trance.

Only when she found herself in the wide corridor again, the main one leading to both general dressing rooms, the former diva stopped, placing both hands on her knees and letting out a deep breath.

God, how she had missed it!

The atmosphere, the adrenaline, her entrance, the taste of in-ring action, the walk down the ramp, the cheers of the crowd.

If she had had any littlest doubt about accepting Stephanie's offer, it had now completely dissipated.

The first person she was consciously aware of meeting was Triple H, who quickly hugged her showing his approval before disappearing behind the door of a office room.

Yet not everyone matched the audience's approval and cheers for the longest reigning Divas champion in history. Once she stepped inside the room where the talent watched the show on a huge flat TV screen, the shift in the women's attitude towards Nicole was more than palpable in the air.

Nothing could her tentative smile, her colleagues' disappointment was etched clearly on their faces.

"That's unfair!" The first to protest was one of the Riott Squad's members. "What do you think we've been doing here all this time, waiting for you to show up?!"

"Yes," Nia Jax echoed with a sarcastic laugh, "of course we've just been keeping the place warm for Princess Nicole!"

"Guys, really, it's not –"

"Who do you think you are?" Spat Bayley -yes, even sweet, hugging Bayley!- who had an arm around her friend Sasha Banks, "You don't deserve that title shot any more than any of us does."

"Actually, even less." Added Lacey Evans, "Where were you while we were here bursting our asses week after week?"

"Of course, everything get handed to the princess the moment she walks back." Sasha bitterly commented. "If I had known I would've just gone and got a reality show instead of earning my title shot the old, traditional way."

Saying that Nicole was speechless was an understatement. She looked from face to face actually lost for words. Yes, she could sympathise and understand a first frustrated reaction – not to mention the fact she had been the one to actually be here when the_ "divas"_ were treated as eye candies only – but did they really believe she was the one taking the decisions here by a snap of her fingers? Was she responsible for why the brains of the company had chosen to come knocking on her door instead of one of the current female roster's?

"Girls, c'mon!" Finally a friendly voice, Natalya, interrupted the angry chaos. "Don't you know by now that what Nikki wants, Nikki gets?" Then the Hart family member came forward, addressing her friend directly. "I don't know you were sleeping with John again."

There, she had said it. Perhaps if Natalya had actually slapped her on the cheek it would've hurt Nikki less than these words.

"Enough!" At last it was Stephanie herself to interrupt the sore scene. "Right now I'm nothing but ashamed of each and everyone of you. I would've judged my own superstars smart enough to consider that I actually do have a reason for every choice I make. Sasha, haven't you just lost again against Ronda? And whichever of you has actually succeeded into defeating her since she's come here? And which one of you won the battle royal yesterday? Right, that's what I thought. So, please, don't insult my intelligence any longer with this ridiculous school yard's attitude. Anyway, whoever seems to have a problem with this course of action can step directly into my office at anytime."

And with that Stephanie finished her piece, glaring at the female talents one last time before exiting the room, the noise of her kneeled boots echoing through the adjacent corridor.

It was just like when in school the whole class got a sudden reproachful lecture from the headmaster for their misbehaviour, only Nicole (who surely hadn't been a saint herself in her schooldays) would've expected a bit more maturity from her colleagues as they kept side-eyeing her, still not-so-subtly muttering accusations in her direction.

"Teacher's pet." Was the last thing she got thrown at her as Lily Morgan passed her by, not before sticking her green-coloured tongue at the Bella.

* * *

Rumours of the women's reaction had obviously quickly circulated in the backstage, prompting Nicole to choose a secluded corner to finish watching the show. Not that she was actually hiding, rather she didn't want to spoil any more the night of her return by dealing with some more nonsense.

By the time most of the talents had left the arena, she came back to the locker room to get changed back in the outfit she was wearing before the show. She was just adjusting her make up when Natalya appeared behind her in the reflection of the mirror.

"What else do you want to accuse me of, now?" Nikki shut the compact mirror closed and turned to glare at her former friend, already fed up by the attitude.

"Just wanted to apologise about the John comment I made earlier." Natalya responded, yet with a tone that sounded nothing like an apology. "I understand now that I must've been mistaken. In order to go directly for the title you must've at least been sleeping with Hunter himself, perhaps even with Steph's consent. Ain't it so, Nicole?"

"You know what, Nattie? Screw you."

Next, a hard slap echoed in the semi deserted room as Nikki's red-manicured hand collided with the Canadian's cheek. Then she picked up once more her Louis Vuitton trolley and let the door slam behind herself.

For what was worth it, she was already done keeping her mouth shut. She had nothing to be ashamed of or apologetic for. She had come here tonight with the best intentions, whoever wanted to be her enemy was more than welcome at this point, she wasn't 15 anymore.

Furthermore, she had already heard anything being spat at her during her career, she wasn't intimidated.

Deep down she knew she had every reason to be here like the rest of them, this was her home and she wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

"Nicole!" Five minutes later, the former diva heard her name being called while she was headed towards the parking lot. Turning on her left – and hoping she wasn't about to have to slap someone else – Nicole soon founded a beaming Renee Young.

"I'm so happy you're back!" The blonde exclaimed as Nikki quickly marched towards her.

"Trust me, at the moment you seem the only one around here to think so." Laughed the brunette, hugging closely her friend, almost picking her up from the ground and in the process accidentally and unawarely showing more cleavage.

"Oh no, I'm actually quite happy to see you, too." Dean Ambrose promptly agreed, a mischievous grin on his face.

"My husband, always the gentleman." Commented Renee with an eye-roll.

"Oh my God, you're the worst!" Protested Nikki, yet not without a laugh, holding her dress in place.

"Please excuse him," come another voice from behind the couple as its owner playfully smacked the back of Dean's head, "we're still trying to teach him some manners."

And with that a grinning Seth Rollins came forward, actually picking Nicole's hand to go for a mock hand-kiss to underline the difference with his friend.

"Seth Rollins, always the charmer." Giggled Nicole in response to the playful gesture.

"That's me." Agreed the Architect with a lopsided grin.

"What about me, then?" Thundered Roman's voice before wrapping the Bella in a bear-hug.

"Aw, you guys, at least someone's still on my side."

"Of course we are," Renee promptly agreed "you don't know how much I needed some more civilised conversation, we need to catch up very soon."

"I can't wait to." Nikki happily agreed before the Raw commentator air-kissed her and rushed away with Dean when their uber approached.

"She was obviously referring to Dean," Seth clarified, "we can be quite civil when we want to."

"Indeed." Agreed Roman.

"I don't doubt it one bit."

"By the way," was the last thing Seth added, turning backwards as the two superstars walked away, "nice dress indeed."

And with a wink he turned his back at her again, leaving a giggling Nikki in definitely higher spirits.


	4. With a little help from my friends

**Piece of the Puzzle**

_A Nikki Bella/Seth Rollins fic_

Thank you for your appreciation, guys! x

* * *

**Chapter 3**  
**"With a little help from my friends"**

It was 3 days later and the whole Raw crew was in Maine for the scheduled live event of that night.

Sitting at a table in the terraced café area of the designated hotel, Nikki was enjoying an afternoon drink with whom presently seemed to be the only friend she had left on the roster. At least among the girls, for no one of the guys had -luckily- to show her any open hostility yet.

"Oh this is nice, way too nice." Renee showed all her appreciation as she grabbed another triangle-shaped mini sandwich from the plate set at the centre of the small round table.

Nikki closely mirrored the petite blonde, both in gesture and appreciation, opting for a triangle decorated with a cocktail stick with a little pink umbrella on top.

"Salmon and butter, yummy!"

"If we didn't have to be at the arena in like an hour, I would totally clean the whole plate."

"Go ahead," Nicole encouraged with a wave of her hand, "it's not like you have to wrestle. Pig out all you want, honey."

"Oh no, I can't." Renee relaxed with her back against the white wrought-iron back of her chair, a hand on her full stomach, "Otherwise I'll snort at the superstars instead of interviewing them."

"Fair point," Nicole laughed, "I shall stop too. Even though I wouldn't mind so much if I ended up throwing up on my opponent."

It was Renee's turn to laugh now. "Do you know whom you're facing?"

"Does it make any difference?"

"I'm afraid not." The blonde commented with a grimace. "Are you excited to get back in the ring, though?"

"That, absolutely." Nikki sincerely said, clinking glasses with her friend.

"Sorry to interrupt, ladies." A voice apologised as Seth Rollins approached the duo. "Dean lost his keycard and needs to take his stuff for tonight." The superstar thus explained with an amused grin in Renee's direction.

"Oh, not again." The latter protested.

"So it seems." Seth confirmed with another grin, outstretching his hand like a child waiting for his mom to give him either some candy or some pocket money.

"Nope, I'll go myself." Renee picked her purse up with an eye-roll. "If this is the only one we got left, I won't take any chances."

"Just don't shoot the messenger." The Iowa native raised both his hands in innocence before his friend's annoyance.

"Nope, just keep Nicole some company, would you?"

"Absolutely," Seth's smile this time was aimed at the Bella number 2.

"Sorry for leaving like this, I never remember I actually married a 5 years old."

"And one with a foul mouth at that." Seth promptly added.

"Thanks for reminding me," Renee offered another eye-roll at the comment as she apologetically touched Nicole's arm on her way out.

Nikki's amused giggles at the emergency situation met Seth's boyish grin. "Is him always so desperate?"

"Hopeless case, trust me. Roman and I should make Renee a statue for having taken such trouble from our hands, at least in part."

"Wow." Nicole couldn't refrain from laughing some more before sobering up. "Nice of you to have accepted, by the way, but I'm still capable of sitting on my own. I don't want to keep you."

Nicole's polite smile was met by an expression of mock hurt on Seth's part.

"Are you saying I'm not a keeper?"

"Not at all, Seth Rollins, just that you don't have to feel obliged."

"No obligations, just pleasure. Now shall I?"

"Of course, then." Nicole cheerfully surrendered with a smile as the superstar first gestured for the chair previously occupied by Renee and then sat down.

"So, what was the topic of discussion? I want to do my best to substitute for Renee. Shoot."

Nikki easily picked her glass up and played with the straw, taking her time in casually swirling the transparent drink inside before answering with the most nonchalant tone. "Actually, we were just discussing superstars' sizes, you know."

"Is that so?" Seth shot back, unperturbed. "Then you've just got yourself the winner, baby."

"Oh my God, you're the worst." Nicole couldn't help but laugh, giving in as the joke backfired on her.

"I'm afraid I am." Seth offered a lopsided grin before sobering up. "How are you feeling about your return?"

"Definitely excited, just a bit deflated about the locker room's situation, you know?"

"I think that's understandable on your part. On the other hand..."

"Yes?" Nicole prompted as he trailed off.

"May I be blunt?"

"I'm a big girl." She conceded with a smile.

"Who gives a fuck if the girls love or hate you? Mind you, I found it ridiculous myself that they all seem to have taken it personally, but you've not come back to make some friends. I suppose you're here for yourself, for the title. Am I correct?"

"Absolutely."

"Then I say you go on and do you. It's only my opinion, but don't let them get to you or slow you down."

"I appreciate it Seth, thank you."

"You're welcome, Nikki Bella." He emphasized her name with that accent of his, making her giggle. "After all, you know I've had my fair share of controversy over here too."

"Oh God, yeah, that awful double coloured hair."

"...Excuse me?!" Seth's outraged expression at such serious observation was almost comical. "I was referring to my run in with the Authority, but anyway my blond hair was the bomb, thank you very much." He grumpily crossed his arms on his chest.

"It looked cheap as hell." Nicole pointed out with a grin, "And you know that too, Seth Rollins."

"Well, forgive me, Miss High Maintenance." Was the childish protest that followed, prompting Nicole to giggle some more.

"Here, help yourself." She moved the plate closer to him as some sort of peace offering. "Try the pink umbrella ones."

Seth eagerly obliged, removing the stick and leaving it in what was Renee's empty plate before shoving the whole triangle in his mouth. Then he pulled a disgusted face.

"Ew." A few seconds later, after having swallowed his sandwich, he stuck his tongue out, reminding Nikki of when Birdie tried some food for the first time and didn't particularly enjoy it.

"Not a salmon's fan?" Nicole tentatively asked, trying to contain her amusement but failing miserably.

"Gimme that." Seth feigned a glare and snatched the cocktail glass from Nicole's hand, washing up what remained of her drink.

* * *

"_Stephanie Nicole!"_

"Oh my, the full name. Why am I in trouble?" Nikki wondered as she held her phone in the crook of her neck, her hands busy carrying her bags from the parking lot to the arena.

"_Are you kidding me? When were you planning on telling me?"_ Brie demanded in a quite upset tone.

"Um... tell you what, exactly?" Nicole inquired in genuine bewilderment. For a brief moment she thought someone might've snapped a pic of her and Seth at the café earlier and consequently started the spread of new rumours on the internet – thing she wouldn't even find surprising at this point – yet why would have Brie been so gullible and believe them?

"_Oh, I don't know, perhaps the fact that the whole women's locker room has basically turned on you?"_

"Oh, _that_."

"Yeah, that tiny, little detail you seem to have left out from your report of the other night." Brie pressed on, sounding pretty much like an angry, scolding mom on a roll.

"Perhaps I forgot to mention it." Was Nikki's sheepish, tentative reply.

"_Try again."_ There was no need to see Brie to know she was rolling her eyes.

"Alright," Nicole eventually gave in, not without a sigh though. "I didn't mention it cause I didn't want for you to worry about me."

"_Nicole, I'm your sister, of course I'm gonna worry about you."_

"Which is exactly why I didn't want to share that particular information." It was Nicole's turn to accompany her words with an eye-roll. "How did you find out, by the way?"

"_You seem to forget I have a husband who last night was regularly on Smackdown Live where, obviously, he heard what happened on Monday night." _Brie explained, progressively raising her voice at an alarming rate with each word.

"Wow."

"_What now?"_

"I think I just witnessed firsthand your transformation into our mother. Last time I got the same scolding we were 15 and I decided to go swimming in an all-white swimsuit at Lucy Evans' house. Basically see through after 5 minutes."

"_Nicole."_

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself."

"_How are you coping?"_

"You know Brie, I actually think I'm gonna be fine."

"_Are you?" _Brie skeptically inquired.

"Yeah, I mean I came back for a precise goal, didn't I? And I won't let anything stop me." Nicole explained, still hearing Seth's words in her mind and feeling already more confident than how she had in the past 48 hours.

"_Are you sure? Cause I was thinking perhaps we could look at Daniel's schedule and see if he can come over to Raw one of these days..."_

"Oh my God, Brianna, you're indeed such a mom." Nicole giggled. "I love you and I love Daniel, but I don't need a chaperone. I swear. Besides, it's not like I'm all by myself, I've still got Renee on my side and I can hang with some of the guys as well."

"_...Oh, I know about the last part."_

"Bitch."

A somewhat relieved laughter echoed through the speaker. _"Just promise me you'll tell me if anything like that happens again, okay?"_

"Pinky swear." Nicole lightly agreed, genuinely touched at her sister's protection. She knew she had people who loved and supported her and about the rest of them... well, who gave a fuck, as Seth had kindly advised her?

* * *

Dressed up in her usual red and black in-ring attire later on that night, Nikki was standing right outside the canteen sharing a cup of coffee with Roman Reigns while the show was currently going on.

They were casually chatting and at the same time keeping an eye on the show on a monitor.

"So your in-ring debut is for tonight?" Roman inquired as on the screen Elias insulted the town they were currently in.

"Yup, and so the games really begin." Nicole replied with a grin. "Tag team match with Sasha Banks and me against Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax."

"Ouch." Roman offered a grimace, "Don't get offended but your opponents seem likely to be able to break in two the both of you."

"Tell me about it." The former Divas champion let out an anxious giggle, "I half expect my partner to turn her back on me on top of that, too. Damn, Brie, where art thou?!"

"Well, don't you worry, if it comes down to that worst case scenario you just whistle and I'm pretty sure the Hounds of Justice won't mind giving it another go." And with that he let out a low whistle in demonstration.

As if right on cue, Seth chose that exact moment to turn the corner and come towards the duo.

"Who's calling us?" The self-proclaimed Beast Slayer inquired as he joined them, casually placing an arm around Roman's neck and prompting Nikki to chuckle in amusement.

"That would be me, it seems." She grinned.

"Hounds of Justice at your service then, miss." Seth charmingly said.

"Aw, how cute." Natalya's voice interrupted the friendly gathering as she approached them from behind Nicole. "You guys are so sweet... perhaps you're both hoping to get princess Nicole to pull some strings for you? Speaking of," the Canadian added, this time focusing on Nicole herself, "how's John doing these days? Still buddy buddy with Vince?"

"Oh give it a rest, Nattie. And choose something new if you want to actually offend me." Nicole simply rolled her eyes, unfazed by the accusation. "By the way, if you wanna play this game, honey, I'm not the one with a famous surname here. Now excuse me, but I do have something better to do than listening to you." The Bella twin thus concluded and turned on her heels, leaving Natalya literally open-mouthed at the naively unexpected comeback.

As she walked away though, Nikki looked back just once to offer her best gloating smirk in her fellow Diva's direction... and in the process distinctly receiving a conspiratorial wink from Seth, who was still behind the Canadian.

When the latter, verbally defeated, left the scene, Roman nudged his best friend in the ribs.

"That's not true, by the way."

"What's not true?" Seth asked in genuine confusion.

"She's really done with John. She just told me she's been living on her own for months."

"And why are you telling me?"

"Just sayin', man." Roman shrugged, hiding a smirk as he followed Seth back in the locker room.


	5. Burn it down!

**Piece of the Puzzle**  
_A Seth/Nikki fic_

Thank you for your support and forgive me for the wait - I've been super busy with work, but I'll try to get the next chapter posted this weekend!

* * *

**Chapter 4**  
**"Burn It Down"**

The weekend had come and gone, time doing which Nikki had barely managed to sneak into her schedule a quick three hours visit to her family before heading back on the road.

It wasn't much the struggle of being away – especially considering she had just got back after all – more the struggle to make everything fit into her schedule. Most importantly, finding time to train. The _proper_ amount of time to train, to be more exact.

Thanks to "Dancing With The Stars", Nicole had remained in shape both weight and breathe wise, yet the pause she had taken in the last year from wrestling training was making itself being felt.

A lot of moves and sequences obviously (and thankfully) still came familiar to the Bella number 2, yet she had to admit she was feeling a little on the rusty side in the four-squared ring. Perhaps it was the truth, perhaps it was the reality of having to perform the same manoeuvres at 36 and not in her 20s, perhaps it was just the bug of being a perfectionist; the bottom line remained though that she needed all the time she could grasp to train hard.

Of course she had been able to hit the gym in the last week since her return, both as first thing in the morning and at the end of the day when she hadn't been in a live match, the problem was the actual in-ring part of her training, though.

As much as she might have liked to, jumping around by herself in the ring would've only succeeded into making her look like a foul. For her previous comeback she had had more time to prepare herself, both with Daniel, Brie and sometimes even John – when he was actually around – but now?

Nicole was actually starting to miss those times when she could just hit whatever local gym and work with no difference whatsoever with any of her fellow divas from whichever roster.

Which was the reason why on that Monday afternoon she was inside a smaller size training ring with none other than a quite perplexed-looking Renee Young.

Eager to do anything in her power to be of any assistance to her friend, Renee had happily volunteered to step inside the ring, yet it was safe to say she was genuinely at loss on what to actually do.

The blonde would have much liked to not only look the part in her black tights (brand new and untouched since the day she had purchased them two months ago for an unattended spinning class), and one of Dean's Asylum t-shirts cut into a crop top, but she was sadly feeling helpless while Nikki tried to give her some basic instructions to let Renee back her up.

So it was with a rather panicky expression on her face that Dean and Seth found the commentator when they entered that portion of the gym.

"You should try to stop me now as I try to bodyslam you on the the mat." Nikki explained, standing in the centre of the ring with Renee hanging upside down from her right shoulder.

"...Stop you _how_?" The blonde inquired from behind Nicole's back while the blood started to rush to her head.

"Anyway you can think of."

...Which apparently in Renee's mind meant tentatively slapping Nicole's butt.

Thing that caused both former Shield's members to openly burst out with laughter at the quite comical scene.

"Way to go, baby." Declared Dean, giving a thumbs up from ringside, "Didn't know spanking matches were back on the card."

"Oh shut up, you come inside and do better, then." Protested his wife, still helplessly hanging upside down like a salami.

"Oh, I would like that very–"

But Dean's bravado was cut short as Nikki spun around to purposefully glare at him.

"–metaphorically speaking, of course."

"Please ignore him, and most importantly,_ please_ don't drop me!" Pleaded Renee, at this point basically holding onto Nicole's waist as some sort of upside-down desperate monkey.

Nicole finally and gently put Renee back onto her two feet, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her forearm. "This isn't going to work." Sighed the former Divas' champion.

"Of course it is. It will." Renee hastily corrected herself, "If Dean teaches me something, I can be useful." The Raw commentator pointedly said, offering a side-glare in her husband's direction as if he was personally responsible for the problem at hand.

"Renee, I love you, but it's Ronda Rousey I'm going to face in four weeks. Currently the top of the tops. We don't have any extra time."

"She needs to train for her match, but the other girls..." Renee trailed off self-evidently, addressing the two former members of the Shield to explain the situation. She hadn't even finished speaking, that Seth had slid inside the ring as well.

"What are you doing?" Nicole blinked a couple of times as he nonchalantly striped off from his t-shirt and tossed it to the side.

"Don't you need a training partner?"

"I do, but–"

"Let's get it on, then." The Architect grinned at Nikki, his arms wide in open invitation.

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, you said you need a partner for the day, I so happen to do too. At least I know what I'm doing here. No offence." Seth added with a grin in Renee's direction.

"None taken." The blonde quickly slid out, relieved of finding herself off the mat.

"Besides," Seth continued "if you're gonna face the very top, you wanna at least practice with the very top." He cockily said. "That, if you can still keep up, of course."

He knew he had touched a nerve –which was exactly what he wanted– and the right one judging from how Nicole suddenly charged at him, hitting the superstar with a vicious elbow and thus evidently accepting his offer.

"That's what I'm talking about, babygirl." A grin was shared between the two and so the training session officially began.

* * *

Nicole was sure she had trained with the very best before: Daniel had always showed such insight to make her feel like she had everything under control, almost as if she was prepared for anything and everything, but training with Seth... damn, that was another whole intense business.

Despite the fact of how _intense_ he looked dressed up (or actually down) in a pair of loose gym pants and with his hair secured in a tight bun at the base of his neck, Nicole now finally understood why he had once named himself the Architect.

In the space of two hours, he had left literally nothing to chance, definitely pushing Nikki to the limit, not only physically but also mentally – he had even made her calculate the exact degree she could angle her body before launching herself on for a spear from one corner of the ring to the opposite. It was as if he could see inside his opponent's mind and was teaching her how to think _inside_ the match in a whole different way. At some point the former diva half expected Seth to present her pen and paper and make her apply the Pythagorean theorem on Ronda's arms or something like that.

"Holy shit, I can see now how you lasted 'till the end of the Rumble." Nicole commented, visibly impressed by Seth's stamina once they were done, as she sat down cross-legged in the centre of the ring, proceeding to tie her long hair in a high ponytail.

Mirroring her position – but not before having enjoyed the height difference to steal a glance at her cleavage – Seth sat down opposite the Bella twin.

"Never question how long a man can last, baby." He cockily said before taking a much needed gulp of water from a plastic bottle.

Nicole laughed at the joke, accompanying it with a playful eye-roll. "My bad. I'm afraid I wasted too much of your time, though."

"Not at all. Why do you say so?"

"Well, I don't think training with me may have done you any good. I'm not exactly Brock Lesnar." She pointed out matter-of-factly.

"And praise the Lord for that. Do you think I would have offered if you looked anything like that beast?"

"Oh, shut up."

"I think you're too hard on yourself, Nikki Bella. I can guarantee you you're nothing out of shape and I've definitely faced worse in the ring lately from the men's division, trust me."

"If you say so, _Seth Rollins_." Nicole smiled. "I certainly feel more prepared for Raw tonight, though. Especially cause, you know, with not having been around I don't really have any in-ring familiarity with the majority of the girls."

"But you've practised with the best now, so you're all set whatever match you have tonight." Seth grinned, offering Nicole a hand to stand up.

"Damn, you're so cocky." She mock-complained as he pulled her on her feet.

"Yup." He proudly grinned.

"Don't you think I didn't hear you though." It was Nicole's turn to smirk now. "Two minutes ago you've basically admitted you offered only to spend time in the ring with me."

"And so? Perhaps I did."

Nikki wasn't sure whether that unrepentant still-in-place grin was all bravado or there was some truth behind his words, anyway she couldn't deny the spark she felt as she stood basically at his mouth's height, before she exited the ring from under the top rope.

* * *

Later that night, Nicole was in the women's locker room, getting ready for her match – she had been booked for a single match against Liv Morgan of the Riot Squad while Ronda was going to be at the commentary table.

The Bella number two had put on her usual in-ring gear, the one with the black bottom and the red top, and was now adjusting the strings of her top.

"How come she's still among us?"

"I don't know, perhaps she's not as important as Ronda to get a private locker room."

"Oh my, the dethroned princess."

As Lacy Evan's words echoed behind her, Nicole turned towards the odd trio formed by the blonde, Nia and Ruby.

"Or perhaps I just don't care enough about you to even acknowledge your presence." She faked a smile towards the three.

"That could turn out to be a mistake." Natalya added in some sort of warning, joining her colleagues.

"And what are you gonna do? Put some super glue in the lock of my locker? News flash: we're not in high school anymore, girls." And with a lazy eye-roll Nicole seized her baseball cap from the top shelf of her locker, shut the door closed and moved past the small gathering and outside the room.

Once in the corridor, the former diva relieved the tension in her shoulders with some stretching and then headed straight for the "Glam Room" to get both her hair and make-up touched up before her match.

As she entered the room though, she came face to face with the Raw women's champion herself.

"Ronda, hey." Nicole was the first to speak up, "I didn't have the chance last week, I wanted to introduce myself."

The champion cocked an eyebrow, "Is this some kind of tactic of yours?"

"What?" It was Nikki's turn to look puzzled. "No, it isn't. Just something called good manners, you know? Considering we haven't met before and we're going to work together."

"I'm not working _with_ you." Ronda promptly retorted, and before Nicole could open her mouth again, the champion continued. "You can have all the fun you want waltzing around for the next four weeks, just know that at Wrestlemania I'm going to crush you." And with that she walked away.

Nicole looked around, shaking her head in disbelief. It seemed like no one around here knew how to not get things personal anymore.

* * *

But luckily enough, she knew someone who still was able to, even though he didn't belong to the women's division.

"_BURN IT DOWN!"_

Nicole mouthed the opening lyrics as she watched from a monitor, not even aware of he grin creeping on her face.

Listening to the way he cut his promo on the over-absent Brock Lesnar, denouncing how the WWE universe deserved a fighting champion, someone who didn't just take the belt and disappear only to show up on the most appealing scenes, and how he vowed to be exactly that, Nikki couldn't help but feel inspired and, actually, fired up.

She absent-mindedly started to jump up and down in preparation for her match, pumped up to take someone down. When Paul Heyman appeared down the ramp and Seth ended the whole promo with an awesome mic-drop on the manager, Nicole was literally beaming from ear to ear like a fangirl.

In between the in-ring training skills and the verbal ones just witnessed from behind the curtain, it was safe to say she was actually utterly inspired by the self-proclaimed Beast Slayer.

Once he re-emerged from behind the curtain, he wasn't expecting to find her there and, actually, caught up in his own adrenaline, he hadn't even noticed the diva at first and passed her by.

It was the split of a second though, as his mind registered Nicole's presence and he turned back towards the stretching figure getting ready for her own match.

Outstretching his closed fist towards her, Seth edged closer and softly whispered a "burn it down" into her ear as Nikki, at first taken back, bumped her own fist against his, a sincere smile on her face at both the unexpected gesture and encouragement.

* * *

The next chapter continues right where we left off... and we find some more moments between Seth and Nikki before the night is over...


	6. Welcome to Monday Night Rollins

**Piece of the Puzzle**  
_A Seth/Nikki fanfic_

Thank you for all your support! Hope you enjoy this new chapter =)

Also, keep checking my youtube account (link in the profile) cause I'm about to upload a new Seth/Nikki video tomorrow.

* * *

**Chapter 5**  
**"Welcome to Monday Night Rollins"**

The match was going definitely well, if Nicole could say so herself. The crowd was without any doubts behind her, pushing each and every one of her movements and supporting her during Liv's offence.

Yes, she had fought the previous days in a couple of house shows (more to test her own resistance and preparation than for actual booking hype), but fighting on Monday night, on live television, had surely another appeal. In front of the current Women's champion, then? This was the real test.

If Nikki was worried her sabbatical period had put a cloud on her wrestling abilities, she was finding out tonight that this wasn't the case at all.

As she sprinted towards Liv and sent her to the ground with a dropkick, the crowd knew even before she moved what was coming next.

A grin spread on Nikki's face as she helped the petite blonde up, hit her with a vicious knee in the stomach for good measure and then lifted Liv on her shoulders. The Rack Attack 2.0 did the rest and the 3 count was secured.

The mix of satisfaction, enthusiasm and relief on Nicole's face was genuine as the referee raised her arm and she celebrated the victory in the ring; she pointed at the fans, blew kisses and then, as predictable, pointed first at the Wrestlemania sign and then at Ronda, sat next to Corey Graves at commentary.

Right on cue, the Women's Champion took off the headset and stood up, the usual stony expression on her face as she proudly lifted the belt.

The segment was supposed to end like this, with a simple staredown in between the two, but something clicked inside Nicole.

Perhaps it was still the inspiration from Seth's speech, or the fact she felt fed up with her colleagues' attitude, point was that she gestured for a microphone which was quickly handed to her at ringside.

"God, it feels good to be back, Bella Army!" She shouted, receiving even more cheers. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick – I just wanted to address something. I know there's some malcontent about me going after the title... but I'm here and I'll be here every single night to prove that I'm earning my chance, that I deserve this chance! I didn't rob anyone, I didn't steal anything. I didn't step on anybody's shoes. And I won't deny a fight to anyone. You wanna say something about me? Do it to my face, in this very ring, anytime you want!" She paused and looked directly at her next opponent. "I have nothing but respect for you, Ronda. You're tough. But so am I. I haven't broken my neck and then come back for nothing. I'm going to take that belt from you, mark my words."

And with that she left the microphone on the side of the mat and raised an arm, index pointing at the title while the fans in attendance cheered for her some more.

* * *

Two hours later, with Raw finished and put behind her, Nicole was in her hotel room, getting ready for a late night solo dinner. Once back in her room after the show, the Diva had taken a long, hot, relaxing bath, touched her make up, and was now adjusting the tiny straps of her red satin dress.

If there was something she had learned after her split with John, it was how to enjoy her own company and not pass on anything only cause she was on her own. Which was why she had quickly discarded the idea of a quiet night-in with room service and was instead headed for the hotel bar, evidently dressed to impress.

She was still feeling the adrenaline from earlier tonight and just glancing at the Diva's silouhette and the way her back and shoulders stood tall and firm, anyone could have seen Nikki Bella's confidence had been raised back where it belonged.

Quickly applying another coat of liquid red lipstick, the brunette grabbed both a handbag and a larger Louis Vuitton bag and exited the hotel room: tonight called for a celebration and she was determined to have one.

Stepping inside the elevator, she didn't expect to find Roman inside, apparently headed to the lobby as well.

"Well, if it's not the Big Dog himself." Nicole smiled.

Roman looked up from his smartphone and literally stared for a few seconds before recomposing himself. "Damn, if we're not all in deep trouble when Nikki Bella's in red."

Nicole laughed at the compliment as the two greeted each other with a quick hug. "That's why I prefer being on the red roster." She joked.

"You're off on a hot date?"

"Yeah, with myself." The former Diva's Champion offered a playful eye-roll. "Just grabbing a bite at the bar. What about you?"

"I just forgot to bring some sparkling water up to the room. We're having take away tonight. Seth and I." He added, clarifying the 'we'.

"Cool. I trained with him this morning. I think I lost 10 pounds by just doing that. He's unstoppable."

"Yeah, he's great." Roman agreed, "Great guy indeed."

Nicole simply nodded in agreement and smiled back, unaware of the mischievous hint behind Roman's eyes.

As the lift reached the ground floor, the two Raw members respectively wished each other a good night before heading their separate ways, one with a natural, good-humoured expression on her face and the other with a knowing grin on his.

* * *

One of the bonus of being a WWE superstar was surely the benefit of being served dinner at the hotel's bar when the closing hour was nearly approaching. Nicole didn't particularly like any favouritism, but this was one privilege she was actually enjoying with no regrets; besides, other than the extra price she was sure the company had already provided for such occurrence, she would make sure to leave a generous tip for both the barman and the kitchen staff.

Sat on a high stool at the lonely bar's counter, the former Diva was wholeheartedly enjoying a various selection of sushi and a good glass (or perhaps two) of white wine, the one she usually preferred with raw fish.

Next to her on the counter lay some sketches for the Birdiebee fashion line. The creative portion of her night was on hold though as, with her free hand, Nicole was killing time on her iPhone.

She had tried to call Brie after the show to discuss something, but her sister had cut the conversation short since Birdie was in a crying fit, vowing to call her back as soon as the baby would be peacefully at sleep.

After texting a couple of her girlfriends, Nikki was glad to see the social networks of the WWE had already published the latest photos and she got happily ready to share a particularly suggestive shot of herself from behind while pointing at the Wrestlemania sign from the top turnbuckle.

* * *

Due to a booking error, that night Seth and Roman had ended up in some sort of suite instead of two normal sized single rooms, thing which neither of the two had trouble with. And especially Seth wasn't complaining at the present moment as he laid half spread on the brown leather couch with his feet up on the coffee table and the flat screen TV on.

He was wearing a pair of black Adidas gym pants with the white lateral bands an one of his t-shirts with the Seth Freakin' Rollins logo on the front; his hair was left loose as in the ring, still wet from his shower. Perched on the couch's arm stood part of his take-away dinner while with his free hand the superstar idly scrolled down on his phone.

That was the scene Roman walked upon when he re-entered the room ten minutes after his encounter with Nikki.

"I think they got our order wrong," Seth casually informed his roommate, "but these spicy wings are actually delicious."

"They didn't got it wrong. I ordered them."

"Oh. My bad then." Seth offered a sheepish grin at Roman's scowl, outstretching the cardboard bucket towards his former teammate as if making a huge spontaneous effort of generosity. "There's still a couple of them left."

"Gee, thanks." Roman offered an eye-roll.

"You can have my Greek salad, too."

"Well, now you're just sacrificing too much, man."

Seth snickered at the consequence of his honest mistake, letting Roman mutter something unintelligible under his breath as the Iowa native returned at playing around with his phone.

It was browsing on Instagram that, scroll after scroll, the photo just posted by Nicole showed up on his feed.

After the first automatic stare at her backside (men will be men and whatnot), Seth's face naturally opened up in an unaware grin as he read the caption that stated _"Wrestlemania 35: I'm coming, baby!"_

Without thinking twice, he immediately double clicked to like the photo, then he paused as his thumb hovered on the little "text bubble" icon. He was debating whether it would be appropriate to also comment the pic, of if maybe it would be better for him to do it more privately in the form of a direct message... even though she'd probably received tons of them to even notice his.

It was in the midst of these teenage-like musings that the newest comments to the photo in question kept appearing under the image, including one belonging to a certain John Cena.

Said comment came in the form of a combination of three emojis: the thumb up, the flexing muscular arm, the confetti's explosion. Quite a simple message, yet it was enough to irritate the once self-proclaimed Architect for some _obscure_ reason.

"...The nerve." Muttered the latter.

"What?" Roman looked up from his salad in puzzlement, "You said I could have it."

"What?" Echoed Seth, suddenly in a bitchy mood. "I'm not talking about _that_."

"What's got you all grumpy, then?"

"Nothing." Was the enigmatic reply, "Just wondering why some people can't stay in their place."

Roman would have just asked Seth to clarify a bit more if, in order to take a clean napkin, he hadn't just happened to pass behind the couch and _casually_ glance at the screen of his friend's phone. Seeing how Seth jumped from Nicole's post to John Cena's profile, it didn't take Roman much to add two to two.

It was with a fake cough that the Samoan masked his laugh at how he imagined Seth intent of checking if there was any trace of Nikki's comments below Cena's own posts.

"You know how you could actually make it up for stealing my dinner?"

"How?" Seth's eyes popped up in curiosity from behind the electronic device in his hands.

"Could you go down to the bar and get me some ice for my ankle? It's starting to hurt."

"I think we have a bag of instant ice in the–"

"_Cubes_. Ice-cubes." Roman promptly clarified. "From the bar, please."

"...Alright." It wasn't without a little confusion at the sudden request that Seth tossed the smartphone aside and stood up, headed for the door. "Be right back, then."

"Thank you, man." Echoed Roman, aware he would be indeed the one having to be thanked if his plan went just like he was hoping.

* * *

The heavens were indeed smiling down on the Big Dog and his little scheme because, when Seth arrived at the bar, Nicole was still occupying her previous spot.

Impossible not to notice, Seth's face finally relaxed when he recognized the Diva and took in her bare back under the cascade of straight black hair.

His good-humour miraculously restored, the Beast Slayer casually approached the counter, nonchalantly leaning with an elbow on the black marble surface.

"I didn't know they offered crayons at the counter too, to think how many nights I wasted at the kids' tables."

At first startled, Nicole relaxed and let out a giggle when she registered whom that voice belonged to, turning her head to be greeted by Seth's boyish grin.

"Guess what, you can even have them with wine and not juice."

"Amazed." He feigned an impressed look as she joked back. "What brings you here besides having fun with colouring books, then?"

"I'm not colouring," she explained in amusement as he toyed with a blue marker as if to confute her words, "I'm doing some sketches for my underwear company. My and Brie's, of course."

"And you design them yourself?" Seth inquired in genuine interest, the instinct of joking around the underwear part replaced by how impressed he really was.

"Not really. I mean, not completely. But the more the company grows the more I like to be involved firsthand. Otherwise what's the fun if you just give something your name and remain in the office, right?"

Seth flipped through a few sketches lain on the side before lifting his eyes on Nicole and meeting her gaze again. "Damn, is there anything Nikki Bella isn't capable of doing?"

"Aw, always the flatterer." Nicole giggled and playful hit his arm before covering her mouth with a hand, unaware of how the drinks she had were making her act more flirty than usual.

"Let me rephrase then, what brings you sketching down here at this hour?"

"I just had dinner." She explained. "Didn't feel like being by myself in my room, so I opted to be by myself at the bar. If anything I get someone to refill my glass, right?"

"Impeccable thinking." Seth laughed along with her, by now having already forgotten about Roman's request. "Does it mean I'd interrupt your creative streak if I joined you for a drink myself?"

"Not at all," Nicole sincerely smiled "be my guest."

"What are we drinking then?" Seth asked as he sat down on the stood next to hers.

"I'll have another glass of white wine, what about you?"

"Well, I just had some wings for dinner, so I'd say a beer." He raised a hand to propel the waiter forward and placed their order, looking quite indignant when the barman actually asked Nikki for confirmation if they were together and he could proceed.

"Does he think I was bothering you?!"

Nikki openly laughed at how crossed he looked. "Don't take it personal, I think he just got used at seeing me on my own all night."

"How rude." Muttered Seth, making Nikki laugh some more; then it was Nicole's phone to interrupt them with the sound of a notification.

"Sorry, just some twins' fight going on," Nicole excused herself as she read Brie's text, "do you mind if I reply real quick?"

"Not at all, I'm the one who interrupted you in the first place."

"That's not true." She took the time to smile at him before focusing on her phone.

"Ask the waiter." Muttered Seth before brining the glass of beer to his lips and making Nicole laugh some more; then she sobered up and opted to reply to her sister with a voice message on Whatsapp.

"_Brie, drop it, I'm not going to ask John any favours." _Sighed the Bella twin, yet remaining firm in her tone. _"If Mark Shane said he can't find the time to train me, I'll find some other solution, but I'm not playing the John's card. The cord is cut and that's how I want it to stay."_

"Sorry," the Diva sheepishly smiled at Seth, a bit embarrassed about having gone perhaps a bit too personal before him "some things aren't the same when they're typed up."

"I totally agree, don't worry." He offered a neutral response, quite pleased with what he had just heard and sipping some more of his beer to tone his grin down. "So Mark rejected you, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess I went to him last minute. That or he sided with John after the break up. But whatever." She accompanied her words with an eye-roll for good measure.

Seth nodded in silence as he moved his right hand to his pants' pocket, glad he always took his wallet with him when he left the hotel room. Opening it, the Architect retrieved what looked like a business card from it, that then he placed before Nikki.

Putting down her own glass, Nicole took the paper rectangle with a puzzled expression. "What's this?"

"My wrestling academy." Seth revealed with a shrug, as if it was no big deal. "You can come up whenever you want. We'll train together, just text me whenever." With that he grabbed one of the markers she was previously using and scribbled his cell phone's number on the back of the card. " And I mean it, it's not a courtesy invite."

Nikki could tell by both his voice and face that he indeed did mean it. And so did she as she accepted the offer. "To be training buddies again, then."

They let their glasses clink as they cheered, then Nicole studied the business card some more. "Damn, is there anything you can't do, Seth Rollins?"

"Touché." He laughed as she took a page out of his book. Then he opened up his wallet again and, before she could protest, paid for both their drinks. "Tell the barman," he muttered to her "I may be underdressed tonight but I can still be a gentleman."

Nikki laughed, "You're just fine, I'm afraid I might be the one actually _overdressed_."

"You? Overdressed? I highly doubt that." Seth offered an eloquent look, mischievous grin in place as he appreciatively seized her up.

"You're terrible, Seth Rollins." Nicole giggled, a blush on her cheeks.

"What?" He raised both arms feigning innocence, "I'm just appreciating the way you represent our roster's colours. Didn't I mention it? Welcome to Monday Night Rollins, baby." He said with a wink, before leaving Nikki again to her giggles and sketches.


	7. I won't fight it

**Piece of the Puzzle**  
_A Seth/Nikki fic_

Thank you for all your kind words and support! Hope you like this one too - as usual, English is not my first language so I apologize for mistakes.

* * *

**Chapter 6**  
**"I won't fight it"**

It was safe to say that upon waking up the following morning, Seth Rollins was particularly in a good mood... and, quite frankly, not because he was headed home for the next 3 days.

While retrieving the items he had scattered around the hotel room and thus preparing his bags for the impending flight home, there was a smile firmly in place on the face of the former Shield's member.

In the course of the last 24 hours a certain former Diva had progressively found more and more space inside Seth's thoughts and he wasn't doing anything to fight it (or _her, _actually) off, especially after the casual encounter of the previous night.

That Nikki Bella was beautiful, he already knew. Actually he had known it for a long time, since back to when they had been contemporarily on the red roster in 2015. Of course, at that time she was with John and he was in engagement of his own, but even then he hadn't been surely blind. What was coming new to him though, was her personality, what lay behind Nicole's look that he was just starting to get a glimpse of little by little through the brief moments they had shared in the space of the last 8 days or so.

There were no doubts that Seth Rollins was intrigued by the Fearless Bella. And no, he didn't have any intention to fight it.

* * *

One floor up, the sleeping Bella was just waking up, a yawn escaping her lips while she stretched her sore limbs. That aching part wasn't something she had particularly missed about wrestling, to be completely honest, yet it was all part of the deal. The bed was comfy enough to remain there dozing off for another while, but Nicole was already feeling quite eager to get on with her day.

The first thing on her virtual list was without a doubt trying to pack without forgetting any of her stuff around, which was easier said than done judging from the mess laying around. Jumping up from her bed in her silky top plus shorts pyjamas from Victoria Secret, Nikki marched barefoot to the small desk turned vanity for the occasion to brush her long locks.

Studying her own reflection in the mirror, Nicole pulled a face. There was something she didn't particularly like at the moment about her aspect, she was feeling as her natural jet black hair somewhat hardened her face's features. Perhaps it was time for a change.

Speaking of things in the course of changing, her eyes fell on the pile of sketches she had left on the table last night, where Seth's business card lay on top.

The former Diva couldn't refrain a grin from spreading on her face as the once proclaimed Ninja entered her thoughts. If someone would have foretold her 10 days ago, Nikki wouldn't have actually believed that Seth Rollins was going to be the person she was actually finding herself bonding more with on the red roster.

What was more, she was thoroughly enjoying every single one of their unexpected encounters, always leaving her with a flirty-meets-amused chuckle. Her musings were soon interrupted by her cell phone though, as Brie's name popped on the screen.

"Morning Bitchy Beauty," was Nicole's choice of greeting for her sister.

"_I see you've found your good spirits this morning."_

"I was in good spirits last night too, just not towards you." Nicole retorted, childishly sticking her tongue out even though Brie couldn't actually see the gesture.

"_I'm flattered,"_ commented Brie, not without an unseen eye-roll. _"I was actually calling to check if you're flying here or to the beach house today."_

"I'm not sure, actually, I might not go either place just yet."

"_Oh. How come? You've got extra work to take care of?"_

"In a way... yeah. I found someone here on Raw to train with."

"_Really? But that's awesome, Nicole! Which one of the girls finally came around?"_

"No one. It's one of the guys, actually."

"_Cool. Which one? Just don't tell me any of the Lucha House Party cause I just can't picture you in one of the Lucha masks without cracking up."_ Brie joked around.

"Don't worry, no masks. It's Seth. Turns out he actually has a wrestling academy in Iowa, ain't it cool?"

"_Nicole!"_ Brie admonished, _"Are you serious?"_

"Yeah... academy, school... ain't it the same?"

"_No, I mean, you're seriously going to train with Seth Rollins?"_

"Well, yes. He's the winner of the Royal Rumble and the 1st contender for the title at 'Mania... I hardly think I could be in better hands right now."

"_I'd really like to differ on that."_ Brie drily pointed out. "_Those hands have a reputation you really don't wanna fall into."_

"Uhm, did you miss the part where I said wrestling school? What do you think is gonna happen exactly?"

"_Precisely what I'm worrying about. You do know he has a reputation."_

"Oh my God, Brie, you're such a prude." Nicole complained, "Like he's the only human being who ever sent nudes to his girl. I did that all the time. Not to his girlfriend, to John, obviously."

"_Too much information before breakfast time, thank you very much." _

"Sorry, mom." Nicole huffed. "You're creating a problem out of nowhere, honestly. Seth has been nothing but lovely towards me, one of the very few, as you know. And he's been super nice to go out of his way to offer me some assistance."

"_Well, excuse me if I didn't know you two were already so buddy-buddy."_

"Shall I have to remind you I'm a grown woman?"

"_And he's a manwhore."_

"Again: grown woman, wrestling academy... repeat with me."

"_Fine."_ It was Brie's turn to huff, _"But don't say I didn't warn you."_

"I won't, _mom_." Nicole stressed out the the last syllable accompanying it with an eye-roll before disconnecting the call.

Suddenly she felt irritated like a stubborn teenager just being warned off a bad boy and aching to prove a point, which was why she immediately picked up Seth's business card and jumped back on the bed.

Lying back with her shoulders against the two pillows she had arranged one on top of the other, Nicole started to toy with the paper rectangle while staring at her cell phone.

Pushing in the numbers scribbled down in blue marker on the back of the card and registering Seth's contact in her phone, the Diva quickly opened a new chat tab on Whatsapp before abruptly stopping.

Feeing more like a teenager with each passing moment, Nikki started to write and then to immediately delete the words she had just typed.

"_Hi Seth."_ Delete.

"_Hey Rollins."_ Delete.

"_Morning!"_ Delete.

Evidently forgetting her social skills, Nicole plunged back against the pillows. She didn't have any hesitation chatting easily with him face to face, but typing a message to the Architect felt strangely formal – something she surely wasn't aiming for.

After typing a _"Hey handsome,"_ and then hastily deleting it too, Nicole let out a frustrated groan before experiencing a sudden enlightenment.

Pressing the little microphone symbol, the Bella twin proceeded to register a vocal message, finally feeling she could breezily be flirty with the just amount of playfulness and seriousness at the same time.

With that taken care of, she then proceeded to dial the number of one of the ladies of the Raw Glam Squad: time for a makeover!

* * *

"_Seth Rollins, let's see if you're a man to keep your word the morning after. I was wondering if you were fee for some training – let me know... thank you, bye!"_

Seth openly chuckled upon listening to Nikki's voice, especially at the way she rushed at the end, reminding him of a 8 grader calling on the land line to set up a playdate.

Gosh, Nikki Bella was definitely something else.

After playing the message for a second -unnecessary- time, it was with a grin on his face that Seth proceeded to type a reply.

"_It takes more than a glass of beer to make me forget my night promises, baby. -wink emoji- I'm flying home in an hour and I'll be there whenever you wanna show up. Text me what time you'll arrive so I'll either pick you up or send you a cab."_

"Who's got you smiling like a fool, man?" Dean asked as the gang met down in the hotel's lobby.

"I'm not smiling like a fool." Promptly protested the Ninja before frowning in Roman's direction in search of some more objective reassurance. "Am I?"

"Nah, you're fine."

Thus reassured, another unchecked grin appeared on Seth's face as he spotted Renee stepping out of the elevator.

"Renee!" He called out, leaving back his two former teammates.

"But he was!" Muttered Dean, looking even more puzzled when he saw Seth placing an arm around his wife's shoulders. "What's got into him?"

"Nikki Bella." Revealed Roman with a somewhat satisfied expression.

Dean let out a low, impressed whistle to prove his appreciation. "Now that's gonna be a good one to watch."

"Oh, I know, my friend." Agreed the Samoan, nudging him in the ribs for good measure.

"Renee, my girl." Seth, in meanwhile, greeted the petite blonde, "Just the woman I was looking for."

Narrowing her eyes at the unexpected welcome, Renee offered a suspicious glance at the Ninja. "What did Dean do this time?"

"What?" Initially sidetracked, it took Seth a moment to clarify, "He didn't do anything."

"What does he want you to convince me of, then?"

"Nothing, I swear, it's all me."

"Oh, in that case, what's up?" Renee relaxed in an amicable smile.

"I was just thinking how boring it is for you to always be stuck with us three... you know, without having a proper girly chat... I think it's high time we listen to you more carefully."

"Oh, well, that's nice of you, Seth." The commentator offered an appreciative nod.

"So, I was wondering, why don't you tell me everything you know about Cena and Nikki? For some good old gossip's sake?"

"Oh. OH!" Renee's eyes lit up as she guessed the reason behind sudden gossipy interest. "Come with me, my friend, and listen good." Grinned the blonde, excited for the possible future pairing, leading the way towards the hotel's exit.

* * *

Nikki was already sat down comfortably, locks of her hair wrapped in tin foil, when she received Seth's reply to her previous message.

Reading his text, the Diva couldn't refrain from softly laughing out loud. The way he was used at putting that _"Baby"_ anywhere, like he was permanently stuck into promo-cutting-mode got her in giggles every time, and even by simply reading it now she could hear the way he drawled it out.

If it was someone else she would have probably found it annoying, obnoxious and show-offing, but coming from the Architect, it just seemed to work perfectly. At least on her, for sure.

Sonia, the Glam Squad's lady Nikki had managed to arrange her little last minute session with, didn't fail to notice the grin on her impromptu client's face through the mirror.

"Someone special?"

"It might be." Was Nicole's enigmatic reply, accompanied by a smile.

* * *

This was just a filling chapter, but next time we'll see Nikki going to Seth's...


	8. Feels like home

**Piece of the Puzzle**  
_A Seth/Nikki fanfic_

_Thank you for your feedback! Also, I've added another couple of Seth/Nikki vids on my youtube page (you can find the link in my profile) if you wanna check them out! Hope you guys enjoy the new chapter as well x_

* * *

**Chapter 7**  
**"Feels like home"**

Once arrived at the airport and having called a cab, giving him the address she had read off the business card Seth had given her the previous night, Nicole had sent him a text to let the Ninja know she was on her way, just like they agreed.

Despite him having been informed she was due to reach the destination in about half an hour, Nicole found it nevertheless surprising – and incredibly nice – that when the cab came to an halt at the designated destination, Seth was already standing outside the gym, clearly waiting for her like some sort of hot-looking welcome committee.

Stepping out of the car and pulling at the stretchy material of her floral two pieces formed by a top and a long skirt that embraced her curves in all the right places, Nicole advanced on her 70's wood-soled wedges towards the superstar, who met her halfway.

In a pair of black gym pants and a simple grey t-shirt, with a baseball cap placed backwards on his tied back hair, Seth looked as cute as he ever could – quality accentuated when his chocolate brown eyes lit up once he smiled at his special guest.

"And the Bella of the ball has arrived."

Smiling at his teasing ways, Nikki perched her cateye sunglasses on top of her head, "I know I'm once again overdressed, but in my defence this was evidently supposed to be laundry day."

Seth wholeheartedly laughed at her admission, "It's always laundry day the the day after Raw," he agreed, "but I wouldn't have imagined Nikki Bella showing up in anything less striking."

"Oh shut up," she laughed before lowering herself through the car's window to pay the cab driver, fully aware of how Seth's eyes were glued to the sheer dark blue fabric on her b-side at present moment.

Coming face to face again, Nicole lifted her eyebrows at him. "Eyes up here, Rollins." She admonished with a smirk.

"My bad," the latter replied with an unrepentant grin, both hands up in mock surrender before sobering up. "I could've easily picked you up myself from the airport, I told you."

"I know, and that was very kind, but I didn't want to be a nuisance."

"You wouldn't have been." Seth reassured her as another smile was exchanged between the two.

Nicole stepped aside as the cab reversed and exited the front yard, eventually revealing the presence of the bags the driver had previously unloaded from the trunk.

"Whoa, you weren't kidding about laundry day indeed." Seth commented as he took in the view of two big trolleys, one small size trolley, and a two set matching Louis Vuitton bags.

"Sorry," Nicole offered a sheepish grin, "I'm kinda rootless at the moment, so I can't exactly travel light."

The Ninja blinked a couple of times, actually puzzled at such affirmation. "Nicole, are you homeless?"

"What? No, of course not." She giggled at his apparent concern, trying to ignore the effect his use of her first name had on her. "You see, I've lived for Brie for a few months, then I rented a beach house which would actually be my official home at the moment. Though it's actually been more practical to touch base at Brie's lately for obvious business reasons. I'd say I'm in between homes, trying to decide where to settle."

"Wait, you've been living in a beach house? As in a a house on a proper beach?"

"Yeah... it was summer when I rented it, obviously – but what's so funny?" She inquired a his sudden grin.

"I don't know, I was picturing you going all Pamela Anderson on the beach."

"Oh, stop it." Nikki offered a playful eye-roll, "Save that for another moment."

"Oh, I will, trust me." Seth assured with a mischievous grin that earned him a light smack on the forearm.

"Shall we go inside or you wanna keep me here all afternoon, Rollins?"

"Let's go, I'll show you around first and then we'll get started." The Architect agreed as they both grabbed Nicole's luggage.

As the diva bent her head, trying to balance two of her bags and the trolley, she didn't notice the way Seth, bending down to pick the rest of her suitcases, glanced up at her face, half hidden by soft, bouncy, caramel brown curls, to smile at her profile.

"Did you do something to your hair? It looks different."

Stopping for a moment and consequently letting Seth surpass her, Nikki hid a flattered smile, actually feeling very pleased he had noticed, conscious not many men actually would have.

"Yeah, I decided it was time to get my highlights back."

"They suit you, your face lights up differently." Seth complimented with a somewhat tentative smile before he led the way, leaving Nikki to follow with a faint redness on her cheeks.

* * *

After having shown Nicole the whole Black & Bravery Academy, tour which the diva responded to with genuine praise, Seth had left her outside the locker room to meet again inside of the ring.

Ten minutes later the Bella twin showed up sporting a pair of her black wrestling (super) shorts and as upper piece one of her old in-ring tops in metallic fabric. Sliding inside the four-squared ring, Nicole shrugged in confusion at the way Seth (still in the same t-shirt as earlier, but now paired up with a pair of black basketball shorts) seemed to be chuckling at her while he lay with one hand against one of the posts.

"What?" Nikki questioned and then, trying to follow the exact direction of his stare, glanced down at her own top where the original criss-crossed strings on the fronts were actually missing. "Look, I'm not trying to show off," she hastily explained, "told you it was laundry day."

"Oh trust me, I'm not complaining one bit," Seth smirked "I'm just concerned about the younger guys." He nodded at the adjacent room where the actual 'pupils' were apparently busy with lifting weights judging from the noise, "I wouldn't want for any of them to lose a toe or something."

Nicole playfully rolled her eyes as Seth teased her, still without taking his eyes off, though. One moment later he had turned and retrieved something from a gym's bag lying at ringside before tossing the item at the former Divas' Champion. "Here."

Catching the crumpled ball of fabric, which turned out to be one of his own _Seth Freakin' Rollins_ t-shirt, Nicole put it on over her top, tying it on her stomach in some sort of fitted crop top.

"Now we're talking." Seth commented with another smirk.

"Careful Seth Rollins," Nikki admonished with a smirk of her own, "Some might say you were just looking for a way to get me to wear your t-shirt."

"I might have." A boyish grin was offered as the two marched towards each other, starting to circle around before locking up in the centre of the ring. "I'll tell you what though, you can keep it. Looks better on you anyway."

* * *

"Okay, I think that's it for today." One hour later, Seth announced to call it a day, a hand on his right hip while he regained his breath.

Jumping off the turnbuckle where they were working on a springboard kick, Nikki glanced at the now water-sipping superstar with wide eyes. "Oh my God, did I outran Seth Rollins?" She taunted, before actually bouncing up and down on the spot in victory.

"What? You surely did not." Protested the outraged Architect.

"I think I just did." She pressed on, adding a somewhat jiggly movement of her shoulders to her impromptu victory dance.

"It just so happens that I was training before you even showed up." Seth scowled, looking much more like a grumpy child.

"Fine," Nicole countered with a pout, catching in mid-air the water bottle he had just launched at her, "But I did good, didn't I?"

Seth couldn't help but give up his scowl in exchange for a chuckle as he noticed Nikki's face lighting up in a midst of anticipation and satisfaction like a child who has just figured out how to do divisions.

"Yes, you did." He proudly confirmed, "Very good indeed."

"Yes!" Nicole shouted before sitting down as well, "Cause actually I'm beaten too."

"You cheater." Seth chuckled at her admission, playfully hitting her ankle with his towel.

"You gave in first anyway." Nicole pointed out with a grin.

"Fine, we'll see how that works out for you tomorrow when I'll get you to join me at crossfit."

"Are you serious? I never did crossfit before."

Seth laughed at her anxious expression. "So? Don't you wanna check it out?"

"Do you want for me to get hurt?"

"You won't. Don't you trust me?"

Nicole's forehead relaxed at Seth's softly spoken question. "Of course I do." She replied with a tentative smile, outstretching her arm to bump her fist with the Ninja's which was awaiting hers in mid-air in old Shield's fashion.

"That's settled then." He grinned, standing up.

"You just need to direct me towards a hotel now, then."

"No need to, the Rollins household will gladly take you in, Miss Bella."

"What? But –"

"But you said yourself you've basically been all over the place in the home department... plus, don't you have some laundry to do?"

Nicole just glanced back at him, biting on her bottom lip. "Would that really be okay for you?"

"Look," Seth smiled "my own place is down to be re-done right now, but I know for a fact my mom would invite you herself if she knew."

"Are you totally sure?"

"Washing machine, comfy bed, satellite TV, home cooked meal..."

"I'll take it." The Bella number two eventually gave in with another tentative smile.

"Wise girl." Seth echoed with a grin.

"You had me at washing machine, you charmer." Nikki threw in a wink for good measure, lightly brushing his forearm as she passed him by to exit the ring.

* * *

Entering Seth's house a bit later, Nicole was starting to feel a bit self-conscious about having taken him up on his offer, wondering if it would have been actually weird to stay at his family's house.

"Mom?" Seth called out, reminding Nikki of when her teenage boyfriend used to take her home after school and wanted to make sure their make-out session wouldn't have unexpected witnesses. "I'm home! And I brought you a guest!"

"Actually, maybe I should just–"

But Nikki didn't have time to shy away from the situation cause, coming from the adjacent room, Seth's mom came inside the kitchen – a slim but firmly built middle aged woman with shoulder-lenght hair styled in a practical cut.

"The Bella Twins!" Exclaimed Seth's mom in surprise, a big smile on her face as she quickly – almost dismissively – planted a kiss on her son's cheek before moving on to the special guest.

"That's Nicole." Seth made the presentation. "You know, longest Divas' Champion ever."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Rollins, and actually forgive me for coming in unexpectedly."

"Nonsense, sweetheart." Seth's mom brushed the apology aside while eagerly shaking Nikki's hand, "That's a real pleasure meeting you."

"She's a fan." Seth grinned, "She never misses an episode of Dancing With The Stars."

"Of course I am a fan!" Mrs Rollins proudly confirmed, "A woman who makes a name for herself in a business dominated by men is always to be respected – plus, you're very beautiful Nicole."

"Aw, thank you Mrs Rollins." Nicole politely and sincerely smiled back.

"And that proposal at Wrestlemania... that was so emotional, I was in the crowd actually – so touching...!"

"Mom!" Seth protested, much like a teenager embarrassed before his friends, "That's really not –"

"What? That was a great moment."

"It was," Nicole agreed, half embarrassed and half amused by Seth's expression, "sadly it didn't last long. John and I are not together anymore."

"Oh well, my dear, you must've had your good reasons. A ring doesn't necessarily make a man husband material."

"Oh, I love your mom already." Was Nicole's approving beam as she gazed from one Rollins to the other.

Seth's mom didn't lose any time to actually link arm with the Bella twin and lead her towards the table. "Speaking of, I hope my son behaves when he's on the road."

"Mom, I'm not 15 anymore, y'know." The thus questioned superstar rolled his eyes.

"He does," Nicole chuckled "he's quite the gentleman when he wants to. He's helping me in the ring as well, actually."

"Very well," Seth's mom smiled in satisfaction, turning to her son. "May I say, Nicole here is by far the most beautiful girl you've ever brought home – if only you could actually cut a bit that untamed hair of yours now..."

This time Seth's protest was anticipated by Nikki's giggles as she conspiratorially leaned forward, "Do you have any photos of him as a boy?"

As the older woman happily obliged to the request, Nicole triumphantly grinned in Seth's outraged direction.

"You've just got yourself a double crossfit session tomorrow, you traitor." Grumpily threatened the former Shield's member, folding his arms on his chest in protest but only managing to make her laugh some more.

* * *

A few hours later, after a much deserved and longed for home-cooked dinner, the Bella and the Ninja were taking a walk in the pleasant evening breeze.

"Those pork chops were delicious," Nikki commented, "I'm extra full."

"That won't save you from tomorrow."

She giggled, "You'll have me on your conscience, Seth Rollins."

"I highly doubt that," he chuckled before offering an appreciative smirk, "you seem to be in perfect shape."

Nicole simply giggled at his wink before changing the subject. "You've got a lovely home and a lovely family. Your mom's a star."

"Yeah, I bet she'd cheer for you over her own son if we had a match against each other."

Nicole laughed at her mock-offended tone. "Someone's grumpy tonight."

"Nah, she was actually right about pretty much everything." Seth enigmatically said, prompting Nikki to faintly blush. "That's my own place, actually, right over there." He added a bit later, pointing at a nice two floors house on the opposite street.

"That looks really nice." Nicole commented, "So you're redecorating?"

"Yup. Let's say my ex fiancee took more than half the furniture with her as payback when we broke up." He bitterly chuckled.

"Oh well, I wouldn't worry, neither the ring or the furniture makes the man." Nicole paraphrased his mom's previous observation, making him laugh.

"Good to know cause I have to entirely re-do the place, but it's quite difficult when you're never around."

"I can relate, and that's a pity cause it really looks like a nice property. But if you need any help... did I mention I've god the real estate agent's license as well?"

"You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm not. Why?"

"I know I'm probably repeating myself here, but damn Nikki Bella, is there anything you can't do?!"

Nicole laughed, lightly pushing him aside as a content grin spread on Seth's face.

Yeah, he wouldn't have minded calling _this_ home.

* * *

PS: I know Seth's mom isn't obviously Mrs "Rollins" but I kept things simply this way lol. Next chapter we're back at Raw...


	9. A ninja and a gentleman

**Piece of the Puzzle**  
_A Seth/Nikki fanfic_

Thank you for your feedback, guys! Hope you like this one too - as usual, English is not my first language so bear with me!

* * *

**Chapter 8**  
**"A ninja and a gentleman"**

The rest of the week, plus the weekend with its house shows, came and went – which meant it was Monday again.

After having thoroughly enjoyed her 3 days stay at the Rollins' household – days packed with training, intense wrestling practice, crossfit and a lot of laughing and joking around – Nicole hadn't seen Seth for the whole weekend cause, while she had been scheduled for the house shows, the Ninja had actually been sent on a mini promotion tour in the UK to pump the British crowd up before Wrestlemania, which was only in 3 weeks.

There were no doubts on how spending time together had, consciously or not, incredibly lifted the mood of both superstars.

As for Nicole, training with Seth had filled her with even more confidence than the week before. Checking her own reflection in the full length mirror in the women's locker room after locking her gym bag and personal belongings inside the locker assigned to her according to the printed sheet of paper attached to the door, the Bella twin flexed her right arm where her muscles were already toning up.

A big smile spread on Nicole's face: yes, she was definitely feeling like herself again, like the longest reigning Divas' Champion ever, ready to conquer the world. Or Monday Night Raw, for that matter.

"How nice, your slutty, trashy, bleached hair is back too."

Not bothering to suppress an eye-roll, Nikki turned on her heels (12 inch stilettos, of course) to face none other than Natalya, obviously.

"Do we have to do this every single week? Seriously?"

Natalya scoffed. "Only until you get your cheap ass away from my locker room again."

Nicole offered a sarcastic laugh in response. "Please Nattie, _your _locker room? Are you delusional? You haven't even had a title shot in years! Oh, and by the way, you should know there's nothing cheap about me... but if you insist, put on your classy cat ears and meet me in the ring tonight."

The Canadian bitterly smiled, advancing until she was in Nikki's face. "I'm sorry, I don't share my ring with Cena's slut."

A sharp noise echoed in the room as Nicole's palm collided, once again, with Natalya's cheek.

"How dare–"

"Consider it a challenge." Nicole icily replied before shoving Natalya with her shoulder and exiting the room.

Definitely fired up from what seemed to have become her personal weekly routine, Nicole didn't really check her surroundings as she stormed off down the corridor... nearly knocking someone over in the process.

"Whoa! Watch where you're going – oh, _hey there_...!"

Called back by Seth's voice, Nicole abruptly stopped and turned on her heels, trying to regain her composure.

Slightly amused by her deer-caught-in-the-highlights expression, Seth raised the paper cup he was holding as if to cheer to something. "You almost got me to spill my coffee all over your outfit."

"Oops," she offered a sheepish grin "sorry, I didn't see you."

"That, I noticed. And that's really what you should apologize for." Seth said with a grin. "So, where are you off to with that ready to kill attitude? And killer heels to match, I'd add."

Nicole let a chuckle escape her glossed lips as Seth's eyes shamelessly scanned her figure clad in a baby blue two pieces made of a thin-straps, no bra underneath, top and a stretchy skirt that embraced her curves until her knees. "You know," he added a bit later while pointing at her white heels "I think I've only ever seen those shoes on Barbie dolls – how can you even run in those?!"

This time Nicole wholeheartedly laughed in the superstar's face, both for his last observation and for the totally puzzled expression on his features.

"Focus, Rollins," she playfully snapped her fingers "you're losing your point here. Drink up your coffee, it will help your concentration."

The Architect just shook his head in amusement, taking a sip from his paper cup – not failing to notice though how her mood had already returned to a much more relaxed one since their collision.

"To answer your first question, by the way, I was going to Steph's office to demand a one on one match against Nattie. I just slapped her. _Again_."

Seth swallowed his coffee right on time to burst out laughing at such admission. "You incorrigible Bella, would you just stop terrorising the women's division?"

"Nope." Nicole grinned.

"Good, that's my girl." Seth approved with a smirk of his own.

A brief embarrassed moment followed, punctuated by a mutual tentative smile, as they both realized what Seth had just said, before Dean Ambrose stormed in right before them and abruptly interrupted the duo.

"No, I'm not posing for another stupid photo!"

Pushing hard her Dr Martens on the arena's floor in annoyance as only a wife or irritated girlfriend had the peculiar ability to, Renee followed her husband.

"Oh c'mon, it's just one harmless selfie!"

Dean spun around to face his wife, thus stopping right before Seth and Nikki who were by now following the marital argument as on a tennis court, and let out a frustrated sigh. "Last time I ended up with those stupid bunny nose and ears. How's that harmless?"

Dean spread his arms towards Seth as to find some assistance from his friend – assistance that he received immediately after.

"Dude," the Architect turned to face Renee with a stern look on his face, "bunny ears are a no-no."

"Honestly," Renee rolled her eyes, "you make it sound like I neutered him or something."

"That's kinda the same."

"Duh."

Renee groaned, lifting her eyes to the ceiling. "Just one selfie."

"C'mon Dean, what's worse than your man refusing to take pictures with you?" Nikki jumped in, earning a thankful look from Renee.

"Oh trust me," Dean promptly responded "it's not the photo-taking the problem, but what comes after."

Taking the cup of coffee from Seth's hand without saying a word – and thus causing a small side smile on his face – Nikki proceeded to take a much needed sip of the beverage, in meanwhile lifting both eyebrows towards Dean in silent question, prompting him to go on.

"Don't you know? After the photo comes the Renee inquisition." The latter immediately obliged, "_Your hair looks terrible, your head's at an odd angle, you look dumb–_"

"Forgive me," the blonde jumped in, "it's not my fault if you do that vaguely empty meets insane face on camera."

"Yeah, he actually tends to do that." Seth agreed, earning a slap on the chest from his best friend.

"Hey! Whose side are you on?!"

"See?" Renee triumphantly pressed on, "It's not me."

"You try it then, dude." Dean grumpily challenged, "One take. Give me the perfect shot."

"Look guys, I really don't want to get involv–"

But no one seemed to care about what Seth was trying to say, as Renee hastily pushed Dean to the side. "Nicole, would you mind?"

In true girl fashion and in the spirit of female sympathy, of course by now Nicole had magically conjured up her smartphone from her impossibly tight outfit and had already opened the front camera, scooting closer to Seth.

"Smile Ninja boy." Was Nikki's instruction before she snapped the photo.

"Hey, I wasn't even prepared!"

But Seth – who had indeed just had the time to place an arm around Nikki's shoulders and hint a smile – was silenced when the Bella twin turned the phone for the others to see the result.

"Just perfect." Nicole announced with a satisfied smile.

"See? That's not difficult!" Renee helplessly complained, "Seth looks ready for the cover of a magazine, not like they just released him from prison!"

"Oh well, it's a nice shot, after all." Seth opted for a dismissive shrug, yet sounding definitely smug.

"Whatever." Scoffed Dean before pointing a finger in Seth's direction, "We should've called you the Hound of _Injustice_." Was the complaint that followed as he walked away, with Renee still chasing after him.

"Looks like we've got a professional here." Nicole eyed Seth up and down before breaking into a grin. "Shall I put it on Instagram?"

"Of course, we look hot baby!"

"Oh my God, Seth Rollins, you're so vain." Laughed the diva as she opened the app on her phone.

"Wait," Seth added, his chin basically on Nikki's shoulder as he glanced at the screen "no bunny ears, right?"

"Nope," she giggled "though I think you'd look cute in those, too."

"But we won't ever find out, so that's all fine. Now, gimme back _that_." The Ninja drawled out, taking back his cup of coffee from Nikki's left hand.

The latter offered a sheepish grin mouthing a 'sorry', then announced the photo was posted. As Seth, as predictable, took his own phone out of his jeans' pocket to go seeing the final result for himself, Nicole moved a few steps away, in meanwhile opening the Snapchat app this time.

Zooming in on the distracted superstar's face as a mischievous smile appeared on her face and choosing the perfect animal filter, Nicole called out his name and then, once he glanced up at her, quickly pressed the shooting button.

"Aw, how cute you look." She cooed.

"Hey! What did you do?! Gimme that!"

"Nope, don't think so." Nicole grinned before sticking her tongue out at him for good measure and then started to walk away.

"Yeah, alright," Seth called after her, "I'll catch you anyway as long as you're in those heels!"

As Nicole's laughter echoed in the corridor, Seth focused back on the previous photo at hand, which had turned out a gorgeous shot indeed with both superstars smiling. Beneath it, Nicole had put the caption _"Backstage modelling with wwerollins"_ along with the wink emoji. Not bothering to suppress a smile while doing so, Seth proceeded to comment under it by typing _"Nikki Bella: still stealing hearts, photos and, most importantly, my coffee."_

A few moments later the WWE official account re-posted the photo on the usual pre-Raw stories, thus making the shot go viral in no time.

* * *

"_You can look, but you can't touch..."_

Nikki came out doing her usual entrance, welcomed by the warm cheers of the public in attendance; she was wearing a pink Fearless top and a pair of her usual super short shorts this time white with a vertical pink band on each side and pink and white knee-high socks. She had also switched her trademark red lips with a brighter and lighter pink lipstick which, combined with her new hair, made the former Diva look somewhat brighter, even younger.

"Dude, your girl's looking hot tonight."

The comment coming from Roman, Seth simply offered an amused eye-roll.

"You're gossiping too now? You know she's not my girl."

"Not yet, you mean." Roman corrected him with a knowing grin.

"Ah, but that's the question," piped up Dean coming from behind and joining his two friends on the bench in front of the monitor where Natalya was now making her way to the ring, "would you like for her to be or not?"

Glancing from Roman to Dean, Seth cocked his head on a side. "What are we, 15 again? Do you want to know if I'm gonna ask her to prom, too?"

Roman chuckled, "Just saying, you guys look really good together."

"Very photogenic indeed." Added Dean, not without a bit of irritation.

Roman lightly laughed some more, "I meant as a couple, not only aesthetically."

It might have been the perfect time now for Seth to playfully shove his friends around or crack a physical joke, yet as the camera zoomed in on Nikki's sassy expression towards Natalya, a genuine chuckle escaped from the Ninja's lips.

"Yes Dean," he eventually offered his answer, "I would like her to be."

* * *

Back in the ring, just as the ref was signalling for the bell to start off the match, Natalya suddenly held her left knee, claiming she had in some way injured her leg, thus preventing her to compete.

Nikki put her hands on her hips, shaking her head as Nattie complained to the referee.

"_It seems like Natalya can't go ahead to compete tonight." Michael Cole said from the commentary table._

"_Or so she claims," echoed Renee, "but she looked perfectly fine during her entrance."_

"_Oh, what do you know, Renee? Have you ever stepped into the ring?" Counteracted Corey Graves in Natalya's defence._

As if right on cue, Sasha Banks' music hit, offering a replacement for the match to go on – only, she came out accompanied by the three members of the Riott Squad as some sort of brand new stable.

"I don't like this," muttered Seth from his first row TV seat, "I don't like this one bit."

"Do you think something's going on?" Roman inquired, not diverting his eyes from the monitor as Nattie exited the ring by leaning on Ruby Riott and yet remained at ringside alongside the trio while Sasha took her place inside the ring.

"I'd bet on it. Nikki said she had to slap Natalya again earlier."

"That bitch." Commented the usually absent-minded Dean, thus earning surprised and curious glances from the other two. "What? I'm keeping up here, if she's to be your girl, that makes her family."

Seth shook his head in amusement for a moment, friendly patting Dean on the back before focusing again on the in-ring action.

* * *

As predictable due to the change of circumstances, the match that followed was anything but fair, the highest point though was reached when, during an attempt by Nicole to pin Sasha, Sarah Logan pulled the referee outside the ring by a leg. Of course the ref himself called for a disqualification at that point, but that didn't bother the brand new and unlikely alliance who promptly entered the ring, starting to beat down the outnumbered Nikki.

"_C'mon! It's 4 on 1!" Renee complained from her first row spot._

And that was still nothing, cause the miraculously healed Natalya was the next to slide inside, after having pulled a steel chair from under the ring. As Sasha and the others held Nikki, the Canadian started to hit repeatedly the Bella with the chair – starting with one leg, one knee and then the other, progressively proceeding upwards almost as if she was scanning Nicole's body.

"What the hell, when are the other girls showing up?!" Shouted Roman upon witnessing such scene.

"They aren't." Thundered Seth in sudden realization as he jumped up from his seat and ran off as fast as he could.

* * *

"_Now that's just nasty!" Cole expressed his disapproval as Natalya's chair collided with Nikki's lower back._

"_She's had neck surgery," added Renee, her voice dripping with concern "this might be dangerous!"_

"_Why isn't anybody doing anything to stop this?!"_

"_It's Seth Rollins!" Renee shouted in a mix of relief and excitement, "Seth Rollins to the rescue!"_

"_There you go Renee, we've got our knight in shining armour for tonight." Added Corey._

And indeed so appeared Seth as he rushed towards the rings with a steel chair of his own in hand, just in time before the girls moved onto Nikki's neck – the quintet immediately chickened out and exited the ring. Sliding under the bottom rope, Seth first shouted something intelligible at Nattie and her friends and then crouched down next to Nikki to check up on the visibly hurt Bella.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked almost into her hair.

Groaning in pain, Nikki winced as she held her left arm while still in foetal position on the mat. "Not really." Was the answer she managed to choke out before the Ninja scooped her into his arms and, much to the audience's enthusiasm, carried the hurt diva outside the ring and down the ramp bridal style.

"_Thank God for Seth Rollins," Cole commented, "the only one with the guts to put an end to that vicious, horrible scene."_

The fans were actually cheering madly for the Bella and the King Slayer at this point and Renee seemed quite in tune with them as she gushed over the little scene the two were offering. _"Aw, that's just like Richard Gere... we've got ourselves a Ninja and a gentleman tonight!"_

Holding onto Seth's neck, Nicole managed to held in her tears enough to softly ask "What do you think you're doing Seth Rollins?"

"I'm saving your pretty ass, princess." Attempted at joking the formed Shield member as he hugged her closer to his chest.

* * *

Coming through the curtain and into the backstage area, Seth marched directly towards the trainer's room, ignoring Nikki's poor attempts of protest.

"I think I can walk now –"

"Let's leave that for the doc to decide." Seth refused to take any chances as he pushed the door open, gently placing Nicole on the table... right as Stephanie McMahon caught up with the duo.

"Excuse me, what do you exactly think you're doing?" Stephanie fiercely demanded – oh, there were no doubts on the fact she was pissed with the Architect.

Seth glanced back in confusion at first, then, understanding where this was going, gestured at the doctor to take care of Nikki before he stepped outside the room and found himself face to face with his boss' daughter.

"Shouldn't you be asking that to Natalya and her posse? Or was that scripted?"

"Of course it wasn't," Steph snapped in disgust, "but that's none of your business, Seth! You're the first contender for the Universal Title! You're supposed to have Brock Lesnar and Brock Lesnar only on your mind, not to interfere in a women's match and go around playing the hero! What got into you?!"

"I don't know, perhaps basic humanity?!" Seth fired back, not really bothering to keep his voice down. "Did you see what they were doing out there? What the hell, she's suffered from a broken neck, they could've seriously hurt her!"

"That's not your role to stop it!"

"Then whose is?! Cause nobody else did anything about it! Right now you should be pissed at your women's division, not at me!"

"You don't get to tell me how to do my job, Rollins."

"Then you should do it better, perhaps! You got Nicole to come back to save your division and dropped her among the wolves! You knew how the others were harassing her and what did you do? You kept Ronda Rousey in a separated locker room like she's the queen or something and left Nikki in there – where's the justice in that?"

A stare down occurred at that point, with Seth breathing heavily after his outburst. Stephanie was the one to break the silence and speak next, this time almost with an hiss.

"I'll suggest you to go get ready for your match now if you still want to keep your title shot, and we'll deal with the consequences of your impulsivity later."

Seth's hands were by now closed into fists at his sides out of frustration; he knew when to press on and when to back down and, sadly, he had to admit defeat at present moment. After all he had done what he could, there was nothing else he could do for Nicole right now – at least he knew she was being checked in that same moment and that she was in good hands for now.

Without adding a single word, he exchanged another glare with Steph before marching back towards the men's locker room.

He knew he had crossed the line and he knew he had a match against Corbin to get ready for, but right now the only thing Seth could really focus on were Nicole's conditions.

* * *

For the youngest of you, both title of the chapter and Renee's reference are from the title of an 80's movie with Richard Gere titled "An Officer and A Gentleman" =)


	10. By your side

**Piece of the Puzzle**  
_A Seth/Nikki fanfic_

Thanks for the support, guys! x

* * *

**Chapter 9**  
**"By your side"**

"That's bullshit, absolute bullshit!" Thundered Seth upon entering the men's locker room and marching towards his locker before he started to randomly (and quite angrily) toss his items around.

"Dude, what happened?"

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know!" Seth raised his voice in anger as he attempted to tape his wrist, but almost immediately gave up and threw the roll of tape on the floor. "I don't know cause I basically got told off and sent away by Stephanie. Can you believe it?"

"What? But why?" Dean questioned.

"Well, cause apparently I should've left Nikki in Natalya's hands instead of, and I quote, go around playing the hero."

"That _was_ kinda badass, though." Dean commented with the hint of a smug grin before Roman slapped him on the chest.

"Not the point now." The Samoan interjected. "That's insanity. What should've you done instead? Let them break her leg or something?"

"That's what I said. Kinda. Perhaps not so nicely."

"So you talked back to the boss." Dean's smirk was back in place as he even outstretched his fist towards Seth. "That's my brother."

"And what did she say?" Roman unceremoniously swatted Dean's hand away, a stern look on his features.

"She sent me to get ready for my match... while she thinks of the consequences of my gesture." Seth's voice progressively faded down, as a grumpy kid confessing to his parents he got told off by his teacher for misbehaving."

"Maybe she'll just give you detention." Dean snickered.

"Hey! Focus! Both of you!" As usual the voice of reason among the 3, Roman raised his voice. "Man, you can't lose your temper with the boss' daughter."

"But she-"

"I know. Trust me, I understand." Roman cut off Seth's attempt of protest, "But we've got to be smart here and don't get carried away."

"So what?"

"Priority is getting sure Nicole's okay and that you stay out of trouble. Injust or not, that's secondary right now."

"Which is exactly what I intended to do before I got sent away from the doctor's room!"

"Exactly my point."

"I'm not following anymore." Dean admitted.

"You," Roman pointed his index towards Seth "go out there and do your job. Get your head in the match, destroy Corbin if you have to, but confirm to the boss why you're the first contender. In meanwhile we'll make sure nothing happens to her."

In order to punctuate his words, Roman outstretched his fist in pure Shield fashion, soon followed by Dean. Seth slowly nodded, looking in Roman's eyes. As much as it troubled him to back down for even just 30 minutes, he knew if there was someone he could trust with his life or, at this point, with Nicole's, it was his brotherhood.

Therefore there was no need for words as Seth's fist bumped against Roman's and Dean's.

"Damn, I'm fired up now!" Exclaimed the latter, pumping himself up on behalf of the former diva.

* * *

Sat on the trainer's table, Nicole glanced from her bandaged ankle up to the doctor who had just finished fixing the bandage.

"So it isn't sprained?"

"Not sprained." The doc confirmed, handing Nikki an ice-bag. "It hurts right now and it's swollen by being hit with the chair, but I expect it to be fully recovered within 2 or 3 days of rest – and I mean complete rest, Nicole." The doc added with a knowing look, "No walking on it, no heels, no pressure whatsoever."

"3 days? But I can't, I've got –"

"3 days is perfectly fine." Stephanie interjected, entering the room from where she was hovering at the door after her confrontation with Seth. "You're obviously cleared for the rest of the week – no house shows. We'll get you checked before next Raw and if the doc gives us his okay, we'll get you back in the ring next Monday."

Snapping his rubber gloves, the doc gave a brisk nod. "Sounds like a plan. Now, about your arm."

Nicole immediately tensed, impulsively holding her bent left arm closer to her body.

"We need to get some more exams."

"What? Why?"

"Can you outstretch it without any pain?"

"...Not really, but that's probably just like for my ankle, right?"

"It might. But since you said it's giving you jolts I want at least some x-rays to make sure there's no nerve damage. Especially with your neck history."

Nicole sucked in her breath. "You think there's something wrong with my neck?"

"I just think we should make sure our possible next Women's Champ is 100% fine and healthy, alright?"

"Definitely." Steph took control, scribbling something down on her clipboard, "We'll immediately call the best hospital in town and get an ambulance sent over."

"What? No! No ambulance," Nikki hastily protested, halfway realizing she might sound like a scared child, yet not really being able to stop.

"Look Nicole," Steph softly said "I understand that after your last injury and everything you went through because of it it sounds scary to even acknowledge the possibility of going back there – but we've got to make sure you're okay. It has just been brought to my attention that we haven't really kept you safe, so allow me to take care of this. We need the ambulance or at least a Uber–"

"_Not really."_

"_We can bring her."_

Both Stephanie and Nicole turned to the door, where Roman and Dean stood side by side, legs slightly apart and hands behind their backs like two bodyguards in action.

"What?" Steph lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "What's up tonight with you former Shield?"

"Hey, Seth's walking to his match but we're done for the night. And _we_ mean no disrespect." Dean added with a mischievous grin, clearly hinting at the scolding the Ninja got earlier.

"Just offering a car ride to a friend in need." Roman clarified.

An eye-roll was offered by Steph as she turned towards Nikki.

"I'll go with them." The latter promptly announced.

"Fine, I'll phone the hospital – let me know as soon as you get the results." The billion dollar princess gave in, walking in between Roman and Dean to exit the room. "Ah, one more thing," she pointed at the two former Shield's members, "tell the third musketeer not to even consider joining you directly at the hospital – he still needs to come to my office as soon as he's done with his match."

"Noted." Roman nodded.

"Now," Dean rubbed his hands together as, left alone, the two stepped inside the room, "let's get you checked, Bella."

"No wheelchair." Nicole protested as the trained approached, "I can jump on the other foot if you guys give me a hand."

"Please," Roman mocked an eye-roll as he easily scooped the diva up into his arms, "do you think Rollins would let us be if we let you get hurt?"

"Duh, that guy's on a roll tonight." Dean echoed, following after the two.

* * *

Showered and dressed after his win over Baron Corbin, Seth was waiting outside Stephanie's door as previously arranged; his hair was still wet and he was impatiently checking his phone awaiting any news from either Roman or Dean.

Rushing towards him still in her on-screen outfit, Seth didn't expect the hug he got from Renee.

"Oh my God, you were amazing earlier, bless you!" The petite blonde put a hand over her heart to mark the point. "I'm shipping you two so hard right now! And I'm not the only one it seems." She added with a little smirk, handing the Architect her phone.

Glancing down at the screen where apparently the majority of the Raw related tweets were about his little rescuing act, Seth let out a low whistle.

"That's my fave." Renee pointed at one particular message that read, "_Out with Cena, in with Rollins! FINALLY! #nethbellins_"

"Wow, these guys are quick."

"I know." Renee offered another grin, "Anyway, Dean texted me she's in with the doc right now, so I'll reach them at the hospital and we'll give you news as soon as we know something more, alright?"

"Yeah, sounds like a plan. I guess I'll see you back at the hotel."

"Yup, I'll get Nicole's things from the locker room and off I go."

"Shout if you need me to stomp someone's head."

"Calm down, hero of the night." Chuckled Renee, already on her way.

Right then, the door of the office got opened and Stephanie made her appearance. "Good, you're here."

"As commanded." Seth faked a smile.

Steph rolled her eyes and beckoned for him to enter, closing the door behind the two of them. As she walked back behind her desk, Seth noticed how Stephanie looked somewhat less belligerent than earlier, still visibly annoyed, yet not so ready to have his head severed right there.

"So," Vince's daughter began, "I still stand behind the idea that your actions tonight were uncalled for as not being authorized... yet it seems from the general reaction on every social media that it's been a great success."

Seth couldn't help the ghost of a smug grin forming on his face for a brief moment.

"Has it?"

"Yes." She drily responded. "Which means that we have talked and we have decided that next week there's gonna be a mixed tag team match with you and Nicole vs Brock and Ronda. We're gonna use it as a build-up for Wrestlemania since you're both going for the titles and, apparently, the WWE Universe wants to see you two together after tonight..."

"So that's my punishment?" The half amused, half cocky grin Seth was sporting at this point didn't go amiss.

"There's no punishment." Steph corrected him, much against her will.

"Cool. I must've misunderstood earlier." Seth grinned, "I'll look forward to next Monday, then." And with a nod, the Architect was ready to exit the room when Steph called him back.

"Yes?" He answered, already at the door.

"Tell Nicole we've suspended the girls involved tonight for two weeks."

"Good. I will." And with another nod Seth walked out.

* * *

An hour later, after having received a text from Renee to let him know that the x-ray had come out alright and they were all back at the hotel, Seth dropped his bags in his room as soon as he arrived and then immediately went to look for _her._

After having knocked a couple of times on the door (thanks Renee for the precious information), Seth waited patiently for the injured Bella to come to the door; once she managed to do so (bandaged ankle and all), the Ninja remained actually speechless for a moment. In her pjs made of a super short pair of shorts and matching top (not transparent but nevertheless showing the evidence of not wearing a bra underneath) and with her hair left loose on her shoulders, Nicole looked at the same time both the picture of innocence (with her face bare of make up) and the sexiest vision he had laid his eyes on in a long time. How that was even possible, he didn't know, yet he wasn't surely in the place of questioning it.

Noticing how she held on the door for support, Seth came back to his senses.

"Hey... forgive me, you were probably resting, but I wanted to check–"

Yet his explanation was cut off when Nicole literally flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck as she held on tightly on the Architect.

At first surprised by the spontaneous gesture, Seth didn't lose any time and reciprocated the hug, gladly welcoming the diva into his embrace.

"I get you don't mind being disturbed in your sleep?" He attempted a light joke, unsure of how to behave in the much pleasing yet unexpected situation.

Who seemed more confident was definitely Nicole, who in response planted a kiss on his cheek. Pulling back what was needed to look him in the eyes and holding onto his biceps, Nikki's face opened into the most grateful, sincere, sweetest smile.

"Thank you so much for what you did tonight – everything. Saving me, sending Roman and Dean over... _everything_."

"You're welcome, it was nothing, really." Seth shrugged in somewhat embarrassment and smiled back at her.

"No, it wasn't. You were like my knight in shining armour. I re-watched the whole thing three times... you were so heroic, so hot." She added the last comment with one of their usual grins, bringing them both on a more comfortable setting.

"That was exactly my aspiration. Can you imagine my mom's reaction if I didn't come to your rescue myself?!" Seth responded with a grin of his own while Nikki, laughing, eventually broke the embrace and, still hopping on one foot, stepped back to hold again onto the door.

The grimace of pain accompanying the movement didn't go amiss and Seth promptly stepped forward to catch the Bella number 2 by her waist. "You'd better lie down," he suggested "does it hurt badly?"

"It will hurt less once the painkillers start working... so, that was your plan, Seth Rollins, huh? Play the hero to get into my room and get me to bed." Nicole joked, yet didn't make any resistance as Seth shut the door behind himself and helped her sitting down on the double bed.

"Damn, you found me out." The Ninja laughed, standing over the edge of the bed as Nicole slowly slid back onto the covers in order to get her ankle supported and then positioned herself with her back against the headboard.

"You can sit down, you know, I can't take advantage of you when I can't move."

"There goes my hope, Nikki Bella." Countered Seth in mock disappointed as he sat down on the very edge of the bed, in the furthest corner possible. "For real though, how are you feeling?"

"Definitely better now that I know there's no serious damage done. I should be able to walk normally in two days and they set my shoulder back – turned out it was only a mechanical thing, no nerve damage done."

"That's awesome. So you should be all cleared for next Monday?"

"Uh-huh, I think so. Why? You think I'll get to beat Nattie's ass?"

"Actually I already know what's in store for you in a week."

Glancing at his elusive smile with curiosity, Nicole took a sip of red wine from the glass she had left on her nightstand. "What's up now? Is it bad?"

"You judge, princess." Seth grinned, "It's gonna be you and me vs. Brock and Ronda."

"...No way." Nicole's mouth hanged open before a huge smile lit up her face. "Now that's _freakin'_ awesome! And all thanks to you, Seth _Freakin' _Rollins, my Ninja hero." She added raising the glass towards him, glass that dangerously swayed in mid-air.

Seth couldn't help a chuckle escaping his lips as her behaviour started to drift towards tipsy.

"Are you mixing wine and painkillers?"

"I needed some comfort after tonight and I don't have to drive. " Nikki shrugged before giggling, "And you don't have to drive either." She added, passing him the bottle to join in.

"Damn, only you, Nikki Bella." Seth softly laughed, accepting the bottle. "To the hottest tag team ever, then, _baby._" He said with a grin before taking a few sips directly from the bottle.

"To us." Nicole echoed with a huge smile, drinking up what was left in her glass. "I'm glad you stopped by," the diva added after a moment, "I was worried you got in trouble because of me. I felt so guilty. Did Steph get super mad at you some more?"

Seth held back a chuckle before her concerned expression and childlike pout.

"No need to feel guilty, really. It went super smooth... I got the tag team match with you, see? Actually, we also got the girls suspended for a couple of weeks... so all's well what ends well." He said with a wink.

"Really?" Nikki's eyes widened in disbelief, once again her expression resembling a child's, marking some more the growing combination of alcohol and painkillers. "That's all thanks to you. You told Seth off – No, _Steph_ off." And again more giggles.

At this point Seth couldn't help but laugh at her adorable, loopy ways. He stood up and circled the bed, taking the glass from her hand and placing it on the nightstand before she spilled wine all over herself and the white duvet.

"How many painkillers did they give you? Just out of curiosity."

"Three." Sentenced Nicole, while holding up four fingers into Seth's face.

"Three, huh?" Chuckled Seth, holding her hand and placing it gently back at her side, just as if he was dealing with a little girl.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I think you'd better sleep it off now, princess, so you'll be all better tomorrow morning." And with that he softly caressed her head, ready to turn on his heels and leave her to rest.

But Seth surely wasn't expecting Nicole to seize his arm and pull him on the bed, nearly on top of her, before she scooted left to allow him more space. Caught by surprise, the Ninja just laid there for a moment as he registered her movements.

"Stay with me tonight." Nicole whispered, already with her eyes half closed.

"What? Nicole, are you sur–"

"Stay, don't go." Repeated Nicole, draping his arm around herself.

There was only so much he could protest or resist to, especially after the intense night they both had had, so Seth gladly gave in and pushed his shoes off before he placed his head on her pillow, repeating to himself that this was all innocent, after all.

* * *

Next chapter: Seth and Nikki's night doesn't go unnoticed...


	11. Coming Clean

Piece of the Puzzle  
A Seth/Nicole fic

Thank you guys for the support! Apologies for the wait, summer vacations are officially over and I'm back on track now! =) Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 10**  
**"Coming clean"**

Upon waking up the next morning, Nicole at first didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Still with her eyes closed, the first thing the diva registered was that the pain in her arm had consistently reduced, then that her ankle (along with her head) hurt, and eventually that her pillow, despite feeling comfortable, wasn't exactly the softest.

Trying to adjust aforementioned pillow, Nicole moved her hand around... this time colliding with something definitely firm and solid.

Opening her eyes, the mix of surprise and panic on the diva's face was almost comical as she realized her "pillow" happened actually to be Seth's chest and that her hand was indeed resting on his stomach.

Trying to put together the missing pieces of the night before, Nikki remained basically paralyzed on the spot, while her companion stirred awake.

"Are you planning on waking me up by going souther with that hand?" Seth hoarsely piped up.

Nicole immediately retrieved her hand from his belly and moved her body off his, almost as if she had been electrocuted.

"Relax, I'm joking." Seth softly laughed, amused by her reaction, and turned to glance at Nicole while he rubbed his eyes.

But Nicole's face showed anything but relaxation as she stared back at Seth wide-eyed. "Did I... did we...? Oh gosh, I shouldn't have drunk wine with the pills."

In all honesty Seth found her distress quite cute and funny, prompting him to let out a chuckle. "Again, relax, Nikki Bella. Nothing's happened, we just slept like two innocent babies. Of course you tried to take advantage of me, I mean who could blame you, hurt ankle or not, you obviously still find me irresistible, but I kept your honour safe like the gentleman that I so happen to be."

"Oh my God, did I really try to jump you?" Nicole covered her mouth with her hand.

"Nope, just messing with you." Seth wholeheartedly laughed and then ruffled her hair, "Gee, you're cute when you're all freaked out."

Relieved that, after all, she hadn't made a fool out of herself, Nicole decided to hit the Ninja with her pillow, actually making him lazily laugh some more.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Seth gave up, "you just looked so shocked that I couldn't help it."

"You're cruel, Seth Rollins." The diva pouted.

He had to bite back an "and you're adorable", so opted for a much safer wordless smile before sobering up. "So how are you feeling this morning?"

"Arm's all better." Nicole informed him like a little kid announcing her boo-boo had just miraculously healed, "My ankle is still hurting a bit... but I guess that's normal. That's why I've got 'till Monday... when hopefully I'll be ready to set foot inside the ring, quite literally."

"Damn right, baby." Seth punctuated his optimism by offering his hand for a high five, "We're gonna be the hottest tag team ever, just wait and see."

Nicole playfully rolled her eyes, "More like the messiest judging from our present state." As Seth looked at her in puzzlement, Nicole pointed a finger at an imprecise point above his head until he connected the dots.

"Oh, okay, very funny." Seth rolled his eyes, "Easy for you to talk with your natural straight hair."

Nicole just giggled as he freed the rest of his messy hair from the hair tie and somehow tried to push it down with his fingers while muttering something about humidity and baby oil until a knock on the door interrupted them.

"That's probably Renee, she said she was gonna stop by to help me getting ready."

"I'll take it then, you can't risk your ankle, tag partner." Seth said and walked to the door.

"I can lend you my hair straightner by the way."

"Ha ha, very funny indeed." Was the reply that followed, obviously accompanied by an eye-roll as the Ninja opened the door. Only, instead of finding Renee on the other side like he expected, Seth found himself face to face with the exact replica of the woman he had just left in bed.

"No Dodo." With both Brie and Seth looking at each other in evident surprise, it was Birdie who broke the ice as she made her disappointment about not being greeted by her auntie known, and turned to bury her face against her mommy's neck.

"We were looking for Nicole." Brie unnecessarily explained, her voice unmistakably cold.

"Yeah, of course... hi!" Seth quickly recovered and pulled the door open to let Brie in.

"Was that Birdie?!" Recognizing her niece's and sister's voices, Nicole hopped on one foot towards the door, holding onto random pieces of furniture to steady herself. "Oh my God, Brie? What are you doing here?"

"We came to pick you up – Bryan's down in the lobby. We thought you needed help getting home with your ankle in that state... of course I didn't know you had company."

There was no mistaking Brie's disapproving tone as her eyes eloquently moved from Nicole to Seth.

Disappointment that surely didn't deflate Nicole, though. "Yeah, Seth's been helping me out. He's a star." She truthfully affirmed, her chin's defiantly up.

"Well, I just made sure she was alright... gave her a hand." Seth added, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Lovely."

"Dodo!" Birdie's once again saved the day as she opened her arms towards her found-at-last auntie.

"Birdie! Come here honey!" Cooed happily Nikki, opening just one arm since she was using the other hand to steady herself on the back of a chair.

Put down by her mom, a very giggly Birdie started to walk up to Nicole with her little arms spread open – only she kept swaying left and right and in mid-track stumbled and tripped over the carpet.

Being the one closest to her, it was Seth who promptly caught the child before her bum hit the floor and held her straight up.

"Look at you, stumbling just like your auntie." He sweetly said, then from his crouched down position on the floor looked up at Nicole with a chuckle. "It must run in the family."

Nicole giggled, her heart basically melted as she watched Seth interacting with Birdie. "Here, come to Dodo." She encouraged.

Sensing it might've taken awhile – and not wanting for Nikki to stand up on one foot too long – Seth easily scooped Birdie up in his arms and in three steps brought the little one to her destination. Only, at this point, Birdie was more interested in the new acquaintance as she turned her face to study Seth's. She looked almost mesmerized as she ran her chubby little hands over his face, rubbing it against his cheeks and beard. "No dada."

"No, that's not dada." Nicole sweetly agreed, "This is Seth. Can you say Seth?"

"Seth." Birdie cheerfully obliged, then congratulated herself with a clap of her hands.

"What a good, big girl." Seth complimented with a chuckle.

"Yeah," Birdie apparently agreed, proceeding to tug at his hair.

"Yeah, Bir-Bir, that hair's just hopeless." Nicole commented with a laugh, earning a playful eye-roll from Seth.

"Nicole," Brie's perentory voice interrupted the sweet little picture, "we should get going, Bryan's gotta be at the arena by 5."

"I'll just go," Seth said and handed Birdie over to Nicole who held her with one arm. "Bye Birdie." He softly said, caressing the soft blonde curls, "And you take it easy, I need you in full shape on Monday. Talk to you later." He added with a wink in the brunette's direction.

"Bye bye," was the response accompanied by a wave that he got from the little one, while Nicole smiled at him. A simple nod was exchanged with Brie before she closed the door behind him.

"Do you like Dodo's friend?" Nicole asked Birdie while tickling her.

"I'm surprised you didn't introduce him as uncle Seth. At this point." Snorted Brie. "Or was it just a one night thing?"

"Oh Gosh Brie, don't start." Nicole protested, "We just slept, but telling you the truth I don't see the problem even if we hadn't. In case you haven't noticed on live TV, that guy's been really a star to me last night."

Ready to launch herself on some lecture, Brie's mouth hanged open as she carefully studied Nikki's expression while she talked about Seth. "Oh my God, Nicole, are you falling in love with him?"

Nicole put Birdie down on the carpet and sat down on the chair, turning once again towards her twin. "So what if I am?" She shrugged, "Would it be so bad?"

This wasn't evidently the answer she expected, and it showed on her face as Brie took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a bitch here, I'm just concerned, you know? Like, after John wouldn't you prefer someone far from the wrestling business?"

"Does it really matter what I would prefer when the heart's involved?"

"You're really playing the heart vs mind card on me right now?" Brie raised an eyebrow at her sister.

"Brie, I don't know." Nicole let out a sigh, "I'm not sure of what I'm feeling... not yet; I'm not even sure if I'm 100% ready to start something new or, hell, even if Seth is interested –"

"– Oh, he's interested alright, trust me."

"–Point is, I can't find a single reason, either in my head or heart, why I should stay away from him. I just know. I feel there's a spark between us. Would it be really terrible if we ignited it?"

Brie stared at the face she knew all too well and that she loved as dearly. She knew Nicole had a point, other than having the right to make her own decisions. She also knew she would do anything to protect her sister from further men-related pain but, observing as Birdie tentatively took two steps forward and then fell back again on her bum and burst out with giggles, Brie knew as well that you couldn't shrink back in fear without trying.

"I guess you could ignite it," she conceded before adding with an eye-roll, "just try not to burn it down as well."

"Gosh Brianna, so funny." Commented Nikki with an eye-roll of her own before sticking her tongue out at her sister.

* * *

Half an hour later, showered, changed and with his hair finally tamed in a low bun and under a baseball cap for good measure, Seth joined his friends in the midst of their after-Raw-late-breakfast. Unceremoniously sitting himself down on the wrought-iron chair of the café next to the hotel, the Ninja stretched his black skinny jeans-clad legs under the table and snatched a donut from Dean's plate.

Whilst such gesture would have usually caused either a protest, an insult, or both, this time the food robbery was simply met with a knowing smirk.

"Oh, someone needs his stamina back this morning."

"Empty bed last night and empty stomach today." Roman joined in.

"Yet he looks well rested." Renee concluded.

"Perhaps they made it slow." Dean mused.

"Yeah, but all night long?" Roman questioned.

"And after all that sexual tension?" Renee shook her head at her husband's theory.

With the hand that held the donut in mid-air after just one bite, Seth glanced in order from Dean, to Roman, to Renee, stopping on the last one with a disbelieving look that had _"Even you?!" _written all over.

"Guys, I'm right here in front of you!"

"We know." Roman replied with a grin. "So, care to share where you were gallivanting last night?"

"All night." Dean precised.

"I wasn't _gallivanting _anywhere." Seth scoffed, "And you know damn well where I spent the night." He added with a eye-roll.

"Oh my Gosh, I need to call Nicole and get the details."

"Why ask her?" Dean looked puzzled, "Ask him now."

"Yeah, sure," Renee chuckled "like their versions are going to match. You guys obviously tend to exaggerate the... crucial stuff." She concluded with some soft of matter of fact scoff, prompting all three men to look at her in a mix of disbelief and offense.

Blinking a few times in puzzlement, Seth shook his head at the blonde. "I don't need to... exaggerate." He then hastily clarified, "And anyway there would be nothing to share here cause we just slept together."

"Well, sleeping apart would've been difficult." Dean laughed.

"I mean we indeed just _slept_, idiot."

"Oh." Dean's excitement abruptly subsided. "Even after playing the knight in shining armour last night? I was rooting for you, man."

"We all were." Renee joined him in disappointment.

Seth tried to find some common sense in Roman. "Are you guys for real?"

"Yeah," the Samoan easily shrugged, "I mean you like her and she likes you. It's natural."

"Bound to happen." Renee clarified.

"Ticking time bomb." Dean added in.

Seth rubbed a hand before his eyes, suddenly feeling like he had walked into a parallel reality.

"Guys, why are we discussing this right now? Nothing even happened between Nicole and me!"

"You mean nothing happened yet." Dean corrected the Ninja's statement, not without a mischievous grin.

"Yup." Renee chimed in, "I'm her friend, trust me, I should know if it was a lost cause. And I really don't think it is." There, another not-so-subtle smirk.

"Question is, are you game?"

Roman snorted at Dean's words, making thus clear his thoughts on the topic at hand.

"Well," Seth took a sip of coffee before deciding there was really no hope of eluding this particular conversation, "I think there might be something there – I mean, on my part, yeah... there is... there definitely is." He admitted at last, finding himself with a smile at the end of his confession.

"There you are." Roman offered a satisfied smile, "The Ninja falling for the Bella."

"I think I totally am, man." Seth admitted with a dreamy sigh. As strange as it may be, it felt good at last to come clean about the feelings he was developing, and first with himself. Not to mention, it was indeed nice to have such a backing up, cheering, deranged squad behind him.

"Do you think she might be the one?" Renee conspiratorially and almost solemnly whispered.

"What, to break the curse?" Dean pulled a face at his wife, "She may be_ the_ _Belle_ but this is not a Disney movie."

"Please, ignore him," Renee looked directly at Seth, "he's just touchy cause he cried when we saw the live action."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

"I think she may be." Seth softly said ignoring the bickering couple, then repeated it once again above their voices. "I think she may be, Renee."

The latter simply beamed, knowing all too well it had been quite a while since Seth had even entertained the idea of exclusive-dating, let alone settling down.

"Guys, just hold your horses a sec, here." Roman slowly said as he glanced down at his phone. In response to the three puzzled looks aimed at himself, the Samoan simply turned the display for his friends to see the just-gone-online preview for next week's Raw.

There it was, in bold letters on the WWE official account: _"The return of John Cena on monday nights! Next Monday 8/7 on USA."_

"Oh bloody hell." Was the eloquent comment coming from Dean, thus summarizing everyone's thoughts.


End file.
